2 Vault Queens Meet Again in Daegu

5.01m versus 4.05m. No chance to beat the opponent whatever she tries. But the game should go on. “If I can’t win against her, the woman holding the record of 5.01 m, I would learn from her.” This is the basic attitude of Choi Yun-hee (20, Wonkwang University), the “Korean vault queen,” as she prepares to participate in the 2006 Daegu Athletics Meeting, scheduled to open on September 28.

Meeting Her Again-

Choi, holding the Korean record in pole vaulting (4.05m), will have a match against the original “vault queen” Yelena Isinbayeva (24, Russia), who broke the wall of five meters for the first time in women’s pole jumping, thereby holding the world record (5.01m).

“I’m so glad to see ‘Sinba’ again after such a long time. I also gave her a gift, a flower-patterned fan from Jeonju.” She was excited as if she was going out to see an old friend, instead of taking part in a competition. In a friendly manner, Choi simply calls Isinbayeva, “sister Sinba,” a Korean-style diminutive of her last name. They came close to each other when they had joint training in Volgograd, Russia in 2004. Choi learned a lot from Isinbayeva there, including her grip of the pole, which was greatly stabilized after Isinbayeva’s lessons. Afterwards, she became able to jump above four meters, a performance that made her the best woman pole-vaulter in Korea.

This time, Choi is determined to carefully observe Isinbayeva’s ‘swing and row phase’ of jumping. Although her approach run, dashing, and flexibility is good enough, she feels herself inept in the part she rows her arms down against the pole to acquire the bounce to fly over the bar.

Learning from an adversary-

Choi’s coach Lee Won (66) says that, “Her motion in the air needs improvement. So I told her to learn from Isinbayeva the part she’s missing. By monitoring the performance of the best player in the world, she will get a good motivation while she compares herself with her.” Lee believes that Choi can jump over 4.30m once she masters this movement.

With a height of 171cm and weight of 59kg, Choi boasts a well-shaped physique, not any worse than Isinbayeva (174cm, 65kg). Experts say that she can even break the Asian record (4.53m) if she can enhance her motions in the air.

Recognizing talents in Choi, who used to enjoy football, baseball, and kickball with boys in her sixth year in Gimje Joongang Elementary School, trainer Lee introduced her into the world of pole vaulting as she advanced to Gumsung Girls’ Middle School. Since then, he has been coaching her for seven years.

“Her slender figure and pretty face seems to attract a lot of guys of her age. Frankly speaking, I’m worried that she might be distracted,” said Lee with a sigh. Her beautiful look, however, made her a celebrity in the athletic circle. Some refer to her as the “Korean Isinbayeva.” In this sense, the match in terms of popularity between the two ‘queens’ scheduled in Daegu on the 28th, is also attracting substantial interest.

Another goal of Choi’s during this tournament is establishing a new Korean record.

yjongk@donga.com