Isinbayeva Named Russia’s Top Female Athlete

Multiple world record setter and Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva is Russia’s most successful female sporting figure, a poll among the country’s prominent sports commentators has found. Isinbayeva was followed by Olympic biathlon champion Olga Zaitseva and tennis star Maria Sharapova in the survey of active female athletes conducted by RIA Novosti, the Avtoradio station and the Moskovsky Komsomolets daily newspaper. The poll took into account not only the athletes’ dominance in their relative fields but also their wider standing in society; their ability to influence opinions and fashions on a global level. The 29-year-old Isinbayeva dominated pole vaulting for half a decade but poor form and injury saw her fade over the last couple of years. She leapt back into the limelight last month however, by setting her 28th world record of 5.01 meters at an indoor meet in Stockholm, Sweden. “It’s a worthy title,” Isinbayeva said of the top sportswoman accolade in a RIA Novosti interview. “Huge thanks for the recognition. The record probably had some effect. Other girls would probably have won if it weren’t for the 5.01. In general I consider myself to have earned this title,” she said. Biathlete star Zaitseva took second place courtesy of her reputation as one of the country’s most consistent winners, taking gold at the 2006 and 2010 Olympics and the 2006 and 2009 world championships, and was characteristically humble on the results of the survey. “This is really flattering,” the 33-year-old said. “And it’s so prestigious when you’re appreciated so much not only by your fans, but on such a high level.” Sharapova was edged into third place despite being among sport’s highest earners, most influential figures and most popular athletes on web search engines over the last few years. Experts put this down in part to her estranged relationship with her homeland: Sharapova moved the United States when she was seven and remains based in Florida. “Despite her Russian passport, few people in Russia take Masha to be one of their own,” said Vasily Konov, the head of editorial of RIA Novosti’s sports arm and former director of sports coverage at Russia’s top television network, Channel One. “But the main barometer is victories. Those of Lena Isinbayeva and Olya Zaitseva are felt more. Isinbayeva is the love of the nation thanks to the positive emotions she radiates and the permanent smile on her face,” said Konov, one of the judges. Three-time grand slam champion Sharapova reached the final of the Australian Open last month, losing to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in straight sets. The survey’s 19-strong panel of judges included hockey stars Slava Fetisov, Alexander Radulov, Alexei Yashin and Sergei Fedorov; former NBA and current CSKA Moscow basketball star Andrei Kirilenko; and the head of Russian tennis Shamil Tarpishchev. From the world of football, the panel included Zenit St. Petersburg midfielder Roman Shirokov, former Chelsea player Alexei Smertin; and two leading officials in Russian Football Union chief Sergei Fursenko and Russian Premier League president Sergei Pryadkin. Completing the list were speed skating champion Ivan Skobrev; All-Russia Athletics Federation chief Valentin Balakhnichev; CSKA Moscow basketball team president Andrei Vatunin; Russian beach soccer star Ilya Leonov; the coach of Russia’s women’s volleyball team Sergei Ovchinnikov; Olympic diving champion Dmitri Sautin; Alexei Mishin, the coach of figure skating star Evgeny Plushenko; Russian Biathlon Union director Sergei Kushchenko; and Konov, the head of editorial at RIA Novosti’s R-Sport division. The judges had to produce a top-20 ranking from 30 female athletes as assembled by the three media outlets, and the results were aggregated to produce a definitive list. Search engine results from Google and Yandex were also integrated. The survey is the first of its kind in Russia to be devoted to sports, and is expected to be followed later this year by a poll of the country’s male sports stars. Last year, RIA Novosti teamed up with independent-leaning radio station Ekho Moskvy, the Interfax news agency and the Ogonek politics magazine to rank the country’s top 100 most successful women in any sphere of life. Sharapova was 70th, while Isinbayeva came 74th.