Sergey Nazarovych Bubka (; ''Serhiy Nazarovych Bubka''; born 4 December 1963) is a Ukrainian former

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

er. He represented the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. Bubka was twice named Athlete of the Year by '' Track & Field News'', and in 2012 was one of 24 athletes inducted as inaugural members of the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, coverin ...

Hall of Fame. Bubka won six consecutive IAAF World Championships, an Olympic gold medal, and broke the world record for men's pole vault 35 times. He was the first pole vaulter to clear 6.0 meters and 6.10 meters. (Indoor) (Outdoor) He held the indoor world record of 6.15 meters, set on 21 February 1993 in

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

, Ukraine for almost 21 years until France's Renaud Lavillenie cleared 6.16 meters on February 15, 2014, at the same meet in the same arena. He held the outdoor world record at 6.14 meters between July 31, 1994, and September 17, 2020. Bubka is Senior Vice President of the

(IAAF), serving since 2007, and served as President of the

National Olympic Committee of Ukraine National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

from 2005 to November 2022. He is also an Honorary Member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

(IOC), having been involved since 1996. His older brother, Vasiliy Bubka, was also a medal-winning pole vaulter.

Biography

Born in

Luhansk Luhansk (, ; , ), also known as Lugansk (, ; , ), is a city in the Donbas in eastern Ukraine. As of 2022, the population was estimated to be making Luhansk the Cities in Ukraine, 12th-largest city in Ukraine. Luhansk served as the administra ...

, Sergey Nazarovych Bubka was a track-and-field athlete in the 100-meter dash and the long jump, but became a world-class champion only when he turned to the pole vault. In 1983, he won the world championship in

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, Finland, and the following year set his first world record, clearing 5.85m (19 ft 2 in). Until the dissolution of the USSR in late 1991, Bubka competed for Soviet teams. By 1992, he was no longer bound to the Soviet system, and signed a contract with Nike. that rewarded each world record performance with special bonuses of $40,000. His son,

Sergei Bubka (tennis) Sergei Sergeevich Bubka (; born 10 February 1987) is a Ukrainian former professional tennis player. He was a member of the Ukraine Davis Cup team and was coached by Tibor Toth, who is also the former coach of Sergiy Stakhovsky. Bubka is the son ...

is a former professional tennis player. From 2002 to 2006, Bubka was a member of the Ukrainian

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

with the

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group and until 2014 an advisor to

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (born 9 July 1950) is a Ukrainian politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014. He also served as the prime minister of Ukraine several times between 2002 and 2007 and was a member of t ...

. He was on the youth policy, physical culture, sport and tourism committee while a MVR. Bubka has been linked to business conducted in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied territories. On 5 March 2022, Bubka professed his love for his homeland after the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, and declared: "Ukraine will win".

Sporting career

Sergey Bubka started competing on the international athletics scene in 1981 when he participated in the European Junior Championship finishing seventh. But the 1983 World Championship held in

was his actual entry point to the world athletics, where a relatively unknown Bubka snatched the gold, clearing 5.70 meters (18 feet 8 inches). The years that followed witnessed the unparalleled dominance of Bubka, with him setting new records and standards in pole vaulting. He set his first world record of 5.85m on 26 May 1984 which he improved to 5.88m a week later, and then to 5.90m a month later. He cleared 6.00 meters (19 feet 8 inches) for the first time on 13 July 1985 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Bubka improved his own record over the next 10 years until he reached his career best and the then world record of 6.14 m (20 feet 1 inches) in 1994. He vaulted on UCS Spirit poles throughout his later career. He became the first athlete ever to jump over 6.10 meters, in

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in 1991. Bubka increased the world record by 21 centimeters (8 inches) in the period from 1984 to 1994. He cleared 6.00 meters or better on 45 occasions. Bubka officially retired from pole vault in 2001 during a ceremony at his Pole Vault Stars meeting in

Olympics curse

The first Olympics after Bubka's introduction to the international athletics was held in 1984 and was boycotted by the USSR along with the majority of other

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

countries. In 1988 Bubka competed in the Seoul Olympics and won his only Olympic gold medal clearing 5.90 meters. In 1992 he failed to clear in his first three attempts (5.70, 5.70, 5.75 meters) and was out of the Barcelona Olympics. At the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, a heel injury caused him to withdraw from the competition without any attempts. In 2000 at the Sydney Olympics, he was eliminated from the final after three unsuccessful attempts at 5.70 meters.

IAAF World championships

Bubka won the pole vault event in six consecutive IAAF World Championships in Athletics in the period from 1983 to 1997:

World record progression

Bubka broke the world record for men's pole vault 35 times during his career. He broke the outdoor world record 17 times and the indoor world record 18 times. Bubka lost his outdoor world record only once in his career. After Thierry Vigneron, of France, broke his record on August 31, 1984 at the Golden Gala international track meet in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Bubka subsequently reclaimed the record on his next attempt on the same runway minutes later.

Technique

Bubka gripped the pole higher than most vaulters to get extra leverage, though Bubka himself played down the effect of grip alone. His development of the Petrov/Bubka technical model is also considered a key to his success. The Petrov/Bubka model allows the vaulter to continuously put energy into the pole while rising towards the bar. Most conventional models focus on creating maximum bend in the pole before leaving the ground, by planting the pole heavily in the pole vault box. The Petrov/Bubka model follows the technique used by Kjell Isaksson, which concentrates on driving the pole up, rather than bending it while planting it on the landing pad, combined with high running speed. While the traditional models depended on the recoil by bending the pole, the Petrov/Bubka model may exploit the recoil of the pole and exert more energy on the pole during the swinging action.

Recognition

* L'Équipe Champion of Champions (1985) * European Sportsperson of the Year (1985) * Track & Field News Athlete of the Year (1988) * Track & Field News Athlete of the Year (1991) * United Press International Athlete of the Year Award (1991) *

Laureus World Sports Awards The Laureus World Sports Awards is an annual award ceremony honouring individuals and teams from the world of sports along with sporting achievements throughout the year. It was established in 1999 by Laureus Sport for Good Foundation foundin ...

discretionary award winner (2008)

References

External links

*
IAAF profile for Sergey Bubka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bubka, Sergey 1963 births Living people Sportspeople from Luhansk Athletes from Luhansk Oblast National University of Ukraine on Physical Education and Sport alumni Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 1st class Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 4th class Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th class Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of State Soviet male pole vaulters Ukrainian male pole vaulters Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletics (track and field) administrators European Athletics Championships medalists Ukrainian International Olympic Committee members Olympic athletes for the Soviet Union Olympic athletes for the Unified Team Olympic athletes for Ukraine Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union World Athletics Championships medalists World record setters in athletics (track and field) European champions for Ukraine Independent politicians in Ukraine Party of Regions politicians Fourth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada Ukrainian sportsperson-politicians Presidents of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Track & Field News Athlete of the Year winners World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games Friendship Games medalists in athletics Recipients of the Honorary Diploma of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Recipients of the Order of Liberty (Ukraine) Ukrainian sports executives and administrators World Athletics Championships athletes for the Soviet Union World Athletics Championships athletes for Ukraine Soviet Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Ukrainian sportsmen