Bubka Sergei Nazarovich (2.12.1963) - Soviet pole vaulter, became the first person in the world to reach a height of 6 meters. European champion and 6-time world champion, won the Olympic Games in 1988. His record in open arenas of 6.14 meters still remains unbeaten.

“The title of champion always obliges you to perform perfectly, it disciplines. When opponents are looking at you, when coaches and fans are looking at you, you simply cannot show a bad result. ”

Childhood

Sergei Bubka was born in Donetsk on December 2, 1963. His father, Nazar Vasilyevich, gave his whole life to the Soviet army, and his mother, Valentina Mikhailovna, worked in a clinic. Sergey also has an older brother, Vasily, who was also fond of pole vaulting at one time. He even won the silver medals of the European Championship in this field. In 1997 he ended his career and went into business.

But Sergey himself was brought to the sport not by his brother, but by a school friend Vyacheslav Mikhailov. He attended the athletics section and invited a friend there. From the very beginning, Sergei liked pole vaulting, and this determined his whole future life.

Sports career

Vitaly Petrov became Bubka's first coach. This well-known specialist tried to comprehensively develop the future athlete, educating him in speed, strength and devoting a lot of time to the technique of jumping. The lessons were not in vain. Already at the age of 19, Sergey won the gold of the World Championship in Helsinki. A year later, he set his first record - 5.85 meters.

“With our Vitaly Petrov, even the lazy one will start moving. Unique trainer. And yes, he's a great person. This is both a mentor and a senior friend. We have been together for 10 years, and not a single conflict. He is like a father to me"

In total, for ten years of performances, Sergei Bubka holds 35 world records. The most significant was installed in 1985 in Paris. The Soviet athlete became the first to reach a height of 6 meters. And Bubka set his best achievement in 1995 - 6.14 meters. An interesting fact: in 1991, Sergei Bubka won the world championship with a modest indicator of 5.95 meters. But on a computer replay, it was recorded that he soared to a record 6.37 meters. Unfortunately, this has not been officially recorded.

Among the most significant victories are the 1988 Olympic gold and 6 victories at the world championships. Bubka went to his last Olympics at the age of 37.

After sports

After the end of his professional career, Sergei Bubka did not completely leave the sport. He organized a sports club that organizes various athletics tournaments. In addition, Bubka entered the International Olympic Committee. I even tried to run for the presidency of this organization, but failed.

In the period 2002-2006, Sergei Bubka went into politics. He was a deputy from the party "For a United Ukraine!", And then moved to the "Party of Regions". In the Verkhovna Rada, he was a member of the Committee on Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy. In 2010, he became an adviser to President Viktor Yanukovych.

Today he is focused only on sporting events and his own business.

Name: Sergey Nazarovich Bubka

Date of birth: 04-12-1963

Place of Birth: Lugansk, Ukraine

Age: 54

Activity: Outstanding athlete, winner of Olympic gold

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Biography of Sergei Bubka

Childhood and youth

Sergey Bubka, who was born on December 4, 1963, was the second child in the family - three years earlier, in 1960 his older brother Vasily was born. The family, who lived in one of the largest industrial cities in Ukraine - Lugansk - had nothing to do with sports, but this did not stop the boys' parents from instilling in them a love of physical exercise from a very early age.

In parallel with general education, Bubka also attended a sports school. Nimble, dexterous and restless Serezha, in his childhood he tried to “comprehend” different sports, trying himself in new endeavors, but finally and irrevocably his heart was conquered by a pole, or rather pole vaulting.

Despite the fact that Sergey's older brother was also an athlete, it was not his destiny to introduce the future champion to sports, but his close friend Serezha. Bubka was also lucky with a coach - Vitaly Afanasyevich Petrov was not just one of the most experienced track and field coaches, he almost immediately managed to discern in Bubka a talent with which he could easily become a world champion.

The young athlete's career developed rapidly, largely thanks to the coach, who helped Sergei develop not only speed and technique, but also endurance, which is important for any athlete. So, already at the age of 19, young Bubka took gold, and not just anywhere, but at the first athletics championship in history! Just a year after the triumphant performance in Helsinki, in 1984 he entered his name on the list of champions - Bubka set a record in Bratislava, conquering a height of 5 meters and 85 centimeters.

Sergey Bubka was savvy in the matter of sports not only practically, but also theoretically - after graduating from high school, he entered the Kiev Institute of Physical Education, where he received a degree without any problems, defending his dissertation. So Bubka became a candidate of pedagogical sciences.

Achievements in the professional field

Bubka is one of the most titled athletes in Ukraine. In addition to the honored "master of sports", he has the title of six-time world champion and as many as 35 world records. His 1994 record - a pole vault in an open arena 6.14 meters high - has not yet been beaten by any athlete! But a similar record, only indoors (6.15 meters), belonged to Bubka for 21 years - from 1993 to 2014. By the way, Bubka became the first person in history to overcome a six-meter-high bar with a pole (Paris, 1985) . The Donetsk resident, who added the Championship at the Olympic Games in 1988 to his list of victories, entered his name in the Guinness Book of Records - here Bubka is listed as the person with the most world records in athletics. Three times Sergei Nazarovich became the best athlete in the world, and is still the only athlete to win at six world championships from 1983 to 1997.

Sergei Bubka, who devoted himself to the sport, according to professionals, could not fully reveal his potential. However, there are those who completely disagree with this opinion. For example, Juan Antonio Samarich, the most authoritative person in the world of sports, president of the International Olympic Committee, without a shadow of a doubt proclaimed Bubka "the greatest athlete of our time."

Why, according to many, one of the most successful sports people of our time, could not fully open up? According to Bubka, most of all he was afraid that he would be remembered as a man of one record, in this case a jump. That is why he took part in many competitions, competitions and olympiads, trying to leave as many mentions of himself as possible in the sports world.

The end of a sports career and further activities in this field

Sergei Bubka retired from the big sport at the start of the new millennium. Having successfully worked at the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000 (the athlete was already 37 years old at that time), he held his last competition as a participant in his native Donetsk in 2001. Passing the baton to young athletes, Bubka admitted that he wants the world to remember him not only as the most dexterous jumper, but also as a person who managed to make this world a little better.

Having ceased participation in competitions, Bubka, however, did not leave the sport completely - the athlete began to work in the development of sports activities. He is the founder of the Sergei Bubka Club, since 2005 he has been the president of the Ukrainian National Olympic Committee, and in 2013 Sergei, who is a member of the International Olympic Committee, even tried his hand at fighting for the presidency of the organization, however, lost this fight. Since August 2015, Sergey Bubka has been the Vice President of the International Association of Athletics Federations.

Business, politics and social activities

Sergey Bubka is an influential person not only in sports. His opinion is listened to and considered. At one time, Sergei Nazarovich was even a freelance adviser to the former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, who, by the way, is his fellow countryman. While in power, he also regulated the development of the sports industry in the country.

Today, like most former athletes, Bubka is a successful entrepreneur. He has not only sports schools open and sponsored from personal funds, but also a number of other companies. For example, Bubka's own bakery supplies dry yeast and other components used in the bakery industry.

The social activities of Sergei Nazarovich are, of course, aimed at introducing the new generation to sports, he is the author of projects aimed at introducing children to a healthy lifestyle, which he tirelessly promotes. Sergey Bubka is also an honorary participant in campaigns aimed at combating tuberculosis.

Sergey Nazarovich owns a phrase with the deepest meaning: “Everything in life needs to be earned by work, talent and abilities. Even luck." It can be safely used not only in relation to sports, but also in any other direction of life.

Personal life

Sergey Bubka has been married for more than thirty years to a woman who gave him two sons - Vitaly and Sergey. Both of them followed the example of their father and connected their lives with sports, but their choice fell on tennis. The eldest, son, Vitaly, has already completed his career, while the youngest continues to conquer the courts. Bubka's wife, Lilia, is also directly involved in sports, she is a rhythmic gymnastics coach.

A Ukrainian who has achieved world recognition, a man with a huge number of awards, both world and domestic, today is an idol for millions of rising athletes. And not only athletes - looking at it, everyone can be inspired by their own accomplishments and discoveries!

Sergey Bubka, who was born on December 4, 1963, was the second child in the family - three years earlier, in 1960 his older brother Vasily was born. The family, who lived in one of the largest industrial cities in Ukraine - Luhansk - had nothing to do with sports, but this did not stop the boys' parents from instilling in them a love of physical exercise from a very early age.

In parallel with general education, Bubka also attended a sports school. Nimble, dexterous and restless Serezha, in his childhood he tried to “comprehend” different sports, trying himself in new endeavors, but finally and irrevocably his heart was conquered by a pole, or rather pole vaulting.

Despite the fact that Sergey's older brother was also an athlete, it was not his destiny to introduce the future champion to sports, but his close friend Serezha. Bubka was also lucky with a coach - Vitaly Afanasyevich Petrov was not just one of the most experienced track and field coaches, he almost immediately managed to discern in Bubka a talent with which he could easily become a world champion.

The young athlete's career developed rapidly, largely thanks to the coach, who helped Sergei develop not only speed and technique, but also endurance, which is important for any athlete. So, already at the age of 19, young Bubka took gold, and not just anywhere, but at the first athletics championship in history! Just a year after the triumphant performance in Helsinki, in 1984 he put his name on the list of champions - Bubka set a record in Bratislava, conquering a height of 5 meters and 85 centimeters.

Sergei Bubka was savvy in the matter of sports not only practically, but also theoretically - after graduating from high school, he entered the Kiev Institute of Physical Education, where he received a degree without any problems, defending his dissertation. So Bubka became a candidate of pedagogical sciences.

Achievements in the professional field

Bubka is one of the most titled athletes in Ukraine. In addition to the honored "master of sports", he has the title of six-time world champion and as many as 35 world records. His record of 1994 - a pole vault in an open arena with a height of 6.14 meters - has not yet been beaten by any athlete! But a similar record, only indoors (6.15 meters), belonged to Bubka for 21 years - from 1993 to 2014. By the way, Bubka became the first person in history to overcome a six-meter-high bar with the help of a pole (Paris, 1985) . The Donetsk resident, who added the Championship at the Olympic Games in 1988 to his list of victories, entered his name in the Guinness Book of Records - here Bubka is listed as the person with the most world records in athletics. Three times Sergei Nazarovich became the best athlete in the world, and is still the only athlete to win at six world championships from 1983 to 1997.

Sergei Bubka, who devoted himself to the sport, according to professionals, could not fully reveal his potential. However, there are those who completely disagree with this opinion. For example, Juan Antonio Samarich, the most authoritative person in the world of sports, president of the International Olympic Committee, without a shadow of a doubt proclaimed Bubka "the greatest athlete of our time."

Why, according to many, one of the most successful sports people of our time, could not fully open up? According to Bubka, most of all he was afraid that he would be remembered as a man of one record, in this case a jump. That is why he took part in many competitions, competitions and olympiads, trying to leave as many mentions of himself as possible in the sports world.

The end of a sports career and further activities in this field

Sergei Bubka retired from the big sport at the start of the new millennium. Having successfully worked at the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000 (the athlete was already 37 years old at that time), he held his last competition as a participant in his native Donetsk in 2001. Passing the baton to young athletes, Bubka admitted that he wants the world to remember him not only as the most dexterous jumper, but also as a person who managed to make this world a little better.

Having ceased participation in competitions, Bubka, however, did not leave the sport completely - the athlete began to work in the development of sports activities. He is the founder of the Sergei Bubka Club, since 2005 he has been the president of the Ukrainian National Olympic Committee, and in 2013 Sergei, who is a member of the International Olympic Committee, even tried his hand at fighting for the presidency of the organization, however, lost this fight. Since August 2015, Sergey Bubka has been the Vice President of the International Association of Athletics Federations.

Business, politics and social activities

Sergey Bubka is an influential person not only in sports. His opinion is listened to and considered. At one time, Sergei Nazarovich was even a freelance adviser to the former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, who, by the way, is his fellow countryman. While in power, he also regulated the development of the sports industry in the country.

Today, like most former athletes, Bubka is a successful entrepreneur. He has not only sports schools open and sponsored from personal funds, but also a number of other companies. For example, Bubka's own bakery supplies dry yeast and other components used in the bakery industry.

The social activities of Sergei Nazarovich are, of course, aimed at introducing the new generation to sports, he is the author of projects aimed at introducing children to a healthy lifestyle, which he tirelessly promotes. Sergey Bubka is also an honorary participant in campaigns aimed at combating tuberculosis.

Sergey Nazarovich owns a phrase with the deepest meaning: “Everything in life needs to be earned by work, talent and abilities. Even luck." It can be safely used not only in relation to sports, but also in any other direction of life.

Personal life

Sergey Bubka has been married for more than thirty years to a woman who gave him two sons - Vitaly and Sergey. Both of them followed the example of their father and connected their lives with sports, but their choice fell on tennis. The eldest, son, Vitaly, has already completed his career, while the youngest continues to conquer the courts. Bubka's wife, Lilia, is also directly related to sports, she is a rhythmic gymnastics coach.

A Ukrainian who has achieved world recognition, a man with a huge number of awards, both world and domestic, today is an idol for millions of rising athletes. And not only athletes - looking at it, everyone can be inspired by their own accomplishments and discoveries!

Sergei Bubka

(Born in 1963)

Ukrainian athlete. Champion of the Games of the XXIV Olympiad in Seoul (South Korea), 1988

Sergei Bubka made his most important jump on July 13, 1985. It happened in the suburbs of Paris at the stadium, which bears the name of the outstanding French stayer Jean Bouin, who died in 1914 in the First World War.

By the end of the pole vaulting competition, few continued to fight: the American Bill Olson, the Frenchman Philip Collet and two Soviet vaulters - Alexander Krupsky and Sergei Bubka. When Bubka with a huge margin overcame a height of 5 meters 70 centimeters, the stadium fell silent. Everyone expected that on this day Sergey would set another of his world records.

Bubka missed the height of 5 meters 80 centimeters, and then the bar was raised immediately by 6 meters. For many years this line seemed to pole vaulters magical, enchanted; no one has ever overcome it, despite numerous attempts. It was Bubka himself who got closest to him - his world record, valid on July 13, 1985, was 5 meters 94 centimeters.

The stadium froze, Bubka's run began in complete silence. Then a sigh of disappointment swept through the stands. He did not take the height. But according to the rules, Sergei still had 6 minutes, which should have been enough for the last attempt.

Before a new jump, Bubka hesitated, and when he began to scatter, a rumble suddenly began to grow in the stands, as if the stadium realized that this time the height would be taken. A few seconds later, the stadium jumped to its feet in a single impulse: the jumper for the first time overcame, at last, the enchanted six-meter line.

The next day, newspapers competed with each other, whose headline better corresponds to the significance of the event: “Bubka is in sixth heaven”, “Bubka flies over Paris”, “Athletics space is conquered”, “Bubka is the superman of the pole”.

Since then, Sergei Bubka has overcome this milestone more than forty times, eventually bringing his world record to 6 meters 14 centimeters - it was set on July 31, 1994 and has not been submitted to anyone since then. Bubka's record for indoors, set a year earlier, is a centimeter more - 6 meters 15 centimeters. Nevertheless, the first overcoming of the 6-meter mark was for him the most important psychologically and therefore memorable.

Already years after that first jump, as Bubka himself said, when he happened to be near the Jean Buin stadium, he stopped the car and took his wife and sons to the stadium to take a piece of the coating from the runway as a souvenir. Immediately after that first takeoff to his "sixth heaven", forgetting from happiness about everything in the world, he, of course, did not do this.

Then, in July 1985, Sergei Bubka was 22 years old. By this time, his sports experience was more than ten years: Sergey came to the section of pole vaulters of the children's sports school in the Ukrainian city of Lugansk on the advice of an older friend who was already involved there, and who really liked to take off to the height of the second floor with the help of an elastic fiberglass pole, acting like a catapult.

Fortunately for world sports, Sergey himself liked it. But it didn’t come to jumping right away: an experienced coach Vitaly Petrov, recognizing Sergey’s excellent physical abilities for this particular type of athletics, at first loaded him mainly with exercises to develop jumping ability and speed. But the moment of the first jump finally came. The height that the future multiple world record holder managed to overcome was 2 meters 75 centimeters. The world record then was 5 meters 65 centimeters.

In 1979, the coach, disappointed with the conditions of the Luhansk children's sports school, accepted an offer to move to Donetsk. His best pupils, among whom there were already masters of sports, including Sergei's older brother Vasily, decided to follow him. Reluctantly, the mother let 16-year-old Sergei go to a strange city.

In Donetsk, he lived with his brother in a hostel, went to school and devoted all his free time to training under the guidance of Vitaly Petrov. Already in 1980, Sergei fulfilled the norm of a master of sports, breaking a height of 5 meters 10 centimeters, and for the first time won the national championship, however, so far only youthful.

Three years later, in 1983, Sergei Bubka traveled to Helsinki for the World Championships in Athletics. In the sports world at that time, few people knew Sergey, no one predicted victory for him. It seems that coach Vitaly Petrov himself doubted that he would become the world champion in Helsinki. But there, at the Olympic stadium, Sergey Bubka took a height of 5 meters 70 centimeters, which did not submit to any of the other rival jumpers.

However, few people then realized that the "era of Sergei Bubka" had come in high jumping with a pole. At the end of the year, the newly-made champion did not even make it into the top ten strongest polemen in the world. But the next year in 1984, at a competition in Bratislava, Sergey set his first world record, taking a height of 5 meters 85 centimeters.

And this was just the beginning: in his entire sports career, Bubka set world records ... 35 times. Moreover, he competed with himself - over and over again he beat his own records. Only one single athlete, the French pole vaulter Thierry Vigneron, once managed to break Bubka's record. It happened at the Golden Gala tournament, held in Rome in August 1984. But the Frenchman's record lasted only four minutes - Sergey beat him in his next attempt.

Just then, in August 1984, the games of the XXIII Olympiad ended in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, Bubka, like all Soviet athletes, did not take part in them. In response to the boycott of the previous Moscow Olympics by a number of Western countries due to the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, the athletes of the socialist camp refused to go to Los Angeles.

No one, of course, can know for sure whether Sergey Bubka would have become an Olympic champion in 1984, if everything had turned out differently. Sport is sport, and the most accurate, it would seem, forecasts often do not come true. But you can compare. The French jumper Pierre Quinon became the Olympic champion at the Los Angeles Games, who had enough to overcome a height of 5 meters 75 centimeters to win. And Sergey Bubka finished the 1984 season with a new world record - 5 meters 94 centimeters.

And yet, it is not worth arguing that at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Bubka would certainly have become the champion in high jump with a pole. If only because the multiple record holder and world champion at the Olympic Games, as subsequent years have shown, was simply fatally, mystically unlucky. It is even hard to believe, but the Olympic champion, however, the great - in the totality of all his sporting merits - the champion, Sergey Bubka was only once. It happened at the games of the XXIV Olympiad in 1988 in Seoul.

Yes, and here he won, admittedly, with difficulty. In the final competitions, he started from a height of 5 meters 70 centimeters, but he took it only on the second attempt. Then he overcame 5 meters 75 centimeters. One of the competitors - Radion Gataullin - took 5 meters 85 meters. Bubka missed this height. Finally, Gataullin, missing 5 meters 90 centimeters and not taking 5 meters 95 centimeters, finished the competition. Now Sergei Bubka, in order to win, had to overcome 5 meters 90 centimeters. Otherwise, with the result of 5 meters 75 centimeters, he would have been left without medals at all, and Gataullin became the champion.

The first two attempts to take 5 meters 90 centimeters were unsuccessful. And only for the third time Bubka took the height, winning the Olympic gold medal.

Why was the fight so hard? Later, Sergey said: as soon as he started the run for the very first attempt, one of the judges accidentally crossed his path, he had to return to the start again. Perhaps it was this unfortunate accident that was enough to bring down the mood, who knows.

For the next four years after the Seoul Olympics, Sergei Bubka remained the strongest pole-man in the world. And at the games of the XXV Olympiad in 1992 in Barcelona, ​​the world was shocked: all three attempts by Sergei Bubka to overcome the first height were unsuccessful. As a result, the world record holder did not qualify for the finals.

But in the next 1993, Bubka set two of his phenomenal records - 6 meters 14 centimeters and 6 meters 15 centimeters indoors. One - at competitions in Ukraine, the other - in the USA.

But the Olympics still remained for Bubka as if bewitched. In 1996, in Atlanta, during the qualifying jumps, Sergei felt a sharp pain in the Achilles tendon and withdrew from the competition.

The last time Bubka performed at the games of the XXVII Olympiad in 2000 in Sydney. And again, failure: he could not take a height of 5 meters 70 centimeters and did not go to the final. “It’s a pity,” he said later, “that I had to end my sports career on such an unfortunate note.”

But what can you do: sport is sport, and even the greatest have to finish their performances sooner or later. Sergey Bubka left undefeated, and so far no one can even come close to his great records. We can assume that he lost at the Olympics. to myself.

In recent years, Sergei Bubka has been living in Monaco with his family, but very often visits Donetsk. Back in 1990, the great athlete founded the Sergei Bubka Center in this city, which holds the Pole Stars competition. Bubka himself finances children's competitions, pays for the work of several coaches. In Donetsk, he also has his own business - enterprises for baking bread and biscuits.

And in Donetsk, in the very center of the city, there is a lifetime monument to Sergei Bubka. Very few athletes around the world have received such an honor.