UkraineBiography
Pole vaulting legend, Olympic champion, world record holder. 10 times world champion, four of them at indoor.
Starting athletics with sprints, but changed to pole vault. Won first-ever World Champs in Helsinki as unsong hero. Break his first world record in 1984 indoor season with 5.81. Cleared first-ever 6 metres in athletics history in Paris, 13 June 1985.
Starting from 1984, he broke 35 world record (18 indoor, 17 outdoor) in his very successful career. His 6.15m world record remained until 2014, which year Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie broke it in his name-sake indoor event in Donetsk.
Bubka was an undisputed champion in World Championships, won every gold medal in all entered championships (before 1991, he represented Soviet Union). Meanwhile, he won 'only' one Olympic medal in Seoul with an Olympic record (5.90m) after a tense battle between fellow Soviets.
After retired in his home-town Donetsk in 2001 with a special tribute, Sergey Bubka made a high-class chairperson in sports world. He has several top positions such as vice-president in World Athletics (formerly IAAF) and other global organizations. He is also honorary member of IOC.
HIS WORLD RECORDS
Indoor
5.81 Vilnius, 15.01.1984
5.82 Milano, 01.02.1984
5.83 Inglewood, California, 10.02.1984
5.87 Osaka, 15.01.1986
5.92 Moscow, 08.02.1986
5.94 Inglewood, California, 21.02.1986
5.95 New York, 28.02.1986
5.96 Osaka, 15.01.1987
5.97 Torino, 17.03.1987
6.03 Osaka, 11.02.1989
6.05 Donetsk, 17.03.1990
6.08 Volgograd, 09.02.1991
6.10 San Sebastian, 15.03.1991
6.11 Donetsk, 19.03.1991
6.12 Grenoble, 23.03.1991
6.13 Berlin, 22.02.1992
6.14 Lievin, 13.02.1993
6.15 Donetsk, 21.02.1993
Outdoor
5.85 Bratislava, 26.05.1984
5.88 Paris, 02.06.1984
5.90 London, 13.07.1984
5.94 Rome, 31.08.1984
6.00 Paris, 08.06.1985
6.01 Moscow, 08.06.1986
6.03 Prague, 23.06.1987
6.05 Bratislava, 09.08.1988
6.06 Nice, 10.07.1988
6.07 Shizuoka, 06.05.1991
6.08 Moscow, 09.06.1991
6.09 Formia, 08.07.1991
6.10 Malmö, 05.08.1991
6.11 Dijon, 13.06.1992
6.12 Padua, 30.08.1992
6.13 Tokyo, 19.09.1992
6.14 Sestriere, 31.07.1994
TRIVIA
♦ Has PhD degree in physical education from Kyiv State Institute of PE
♦ Entered IOC presidential election in 2013, lost German Thomas Bach. Also lost World Athletics presidency to fellow athletics star, Seb Coe in 2015.
♦ Since 2005, he's running as President of the Ukrainian National Olympic Committee.
♦ Wife, Liliya Bubka, was a rhytmic gymnastics coach.
♦ Son, Sergey Bubka Jr (b.1987), is a professional tennis player,
♦ Coached by renowned PV master Vitaly Petrov until 1990. Later, worked with Evgeny Volobuev.
♦ Awarded as "Hero of Ukraine" medal in 2001. Also has "Order of Lenin" medal in USSR.
♦ In 29 August 1999, his statue erected in Donetsk, where he jumped 6.15m career best.
♦ In a short while, he was an advisor for Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich.