Sergei Bubka.

Sergei Bubka. Sergei Bubka, born in 1964, Ukrainian pole vaulter, who broke the world record in pole vaulting more than 30 times. During his spectacular track-and-field career Bubka won six consecutive world championships and a gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. Born in Voroshilovgrad, Ukraine, Bubka was a good track-and-field athlete in the 100-meter dash and the long jump, but he became a world-class competitor only when he turned to the pole vault. In 1983, virtually unknown in international meets, he won the world championship at Helsinki, Finland, and the following year he set his first world record, clearing 5 m 75 cm (19 ft 2?in). Until the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in late 1991, Bubka competed for Soviet teams. The Soviet sports system rewarded athletes for setting new world records, and he became noted for establishing new records by slim amounts, sometimes as little as a centimeter higher. This allowed him to collect frequent bonus payments and made Bubka an attraction at track-and-field meets. In the 1988 Summer Olympics Bubka won the gold medal as expected, but there was disappointment that he failed to set a world record. By the end of the 1988 season, however, he became the first pole vaulter to clear 6 m (19 ft 8 in). In March 1991, at an indoor meet in San Sebastián, Spain, he was the first to clear 6.1 m (20 ft); later in the year he exceeded the height in an outdoor meet. Bubka won his second and third world championship titles in 1987 and 1991. He was expected to win a second gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, and caused a sensation when he failed to qualify for the competition. Bubka won two more world championships in 1993 and 1995 but was unable to compete in the 1996 Summer Olympics because of a severe ankle injury. He recovered, however, and won a sixth consecutive world championship the following year. After retiring, Bubka was elected a vice president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the international governing body for track and field, in 2007. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.