Isinbayeva and Ukhov are European Athletes of the Month of February
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20.03.2009
Isinbayeva reigns supreme during the Indoor season.
European
Athletics is pleased to announce that Russian Pole Vault queen Yelena
Isinbayeva and Russian High Jump star Ivan Ukhov have been selected as the
European Athletes of the Month for February.
The
peerless Isinbayeva set her 26th World Record for the Pole Vault
with a 5.00m clearance at her favourite indoor meeting in Donetsk, Ukraine
organised by her here Sergey Bubka.
The
double Olympic champion competed sparsely over the indoor season but
nonetheless maintained her long unbeaten run with victories in Birmingham and
Prague along with Donetsk during February.
The
26-year-old, who was voted the European Athlete of the Year for the second time
in 2008 will now seek to win her third successive World Championship crown at
the IAAF World Championships in Berlin in August.
Ukhov
continued to raise the bar for High Jumpers worldwide with a stunning month of
February.
With
two victories in Moscow along with one in Arnstad and a runner up spot in
Birmingham, he cleared a stunning 2.40m in Athens, a height only two Europeans
have previously bettered.
The
23-year-old, who won the first European Athlete of the Month award in January
2007 has now started to make a name for himself for the right reasons after
some wobbly performances in 2008.
The
runners up in the men's poll were Italian 400m runner Claudio Liccardello and
Britain's Mo Farah while German high jumper Ariane Friedrich and Italian 800m
runner Elisa Cusma were the runners up in the women's poll.
The
European Athlete of the Month initiative was launched in January 2007 and is
designed to recognise outstanding performers at all levels of the sport in
Europe.
Russian Ivan Ukhov has been in phenomenal form all through the
2009 Indoor season.
European
Athletics will name a male and female winner each month and feature the athlete
on the European Athletics website. Selections are based on votes by the public,
the media and a panel of European Athletics experts with each counting for
33.3% of the final vote.
