HERAKLION, Greece, 6 July 2004 — It was a world record-breaking night for Russia’s women at the IAAF Super Grand Prix here on Sunday with Svetlana Feofanova setting a new mark in the pole vault and Gulnara Samitova doing the same in the steeplechase.
Reigning world champion Feofanova cleared 4.88m to beat the old mark of 4.87m set by compatriot Elena Isinbayeva last Sunday at Gateshead, northern England.
Russia’s Gulnara Samitova broke her own women’s 3000m steeplechase record with 9min 1.59sec. She had set the previous best mark of 9:08.33 on Aug. 10 last year in the Russian national championships in Tula.
Isinbayeva came second in the competition with 4.65m ahead of Poland’s Anna Roowska, who also cleared 4.65m.
Feofanova, who took the record from her rival for the second time, said she had expected to beat the world mark even though she had doubts because the stadium had never hosted a competition before.
Russia’s Tatiana Lebedeva did not quite join her Russian compatriots in breaking the world record but her leap of 15.34m in winning the women’s triple jump was the second best jump of all time and the best performance in the world this year.
