Serhiy Bubka is a former Ukrainian athlete who represented the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991. He is considered the best in the world and one of the best athletes of our time. He has won six IAAF World Championships in a row and an Olympic gold medal.
Childhood
Sergei Nazarovich Bubka was born on December 4, 1963 in Lugansk. His father was a soldier and his mother was a physician's assistant. None of his parents were interested in sports. He has an older brother, Vasily Bubka, who also chose a career as an athlete. When he was four years old, he fell into a barrel of water and nearly drowned. Since childhood, Sergei has fallen in love with sports. His favorite games were street hockey and football. Nature endowed Seryozha with good speed and coordination, and his parents sent him to the gymnastics and swimming section, but these sports did not captivate young Bubka. In the end, on the advice of a friend, at the age of eleven, he began to train under the guidance of pole vault coach Vitaly Petrov. At the insistence of the coach, he enters the Dynamo children's and youth sports school in Voroshilovgrad. Later, in 1978, when he was 15 years old, Bubka moved to Donetsk with his coach.
Carier start
In 1981, Sergei Bubka burst into the world of international athletics, taking part in the European Junior Championships and took 7th place. And already at the 1983 World Championships, which was held in Helsinki, he won the gold medal when he conquered the height of 5.70 meters (18 feet 8 inches).
Already in May 1984, he set the world record of 5.85 m for the first time, which he improved after a few days to 5.88 m, and a month later the 5.90 m bar was taken.
In June 1985, he set a world record, reaching a height that was long considered unattainable - 6, 00 meters (19 feet 8 inches), jumping on. In San Sebastian in 1991, he became the first athlete to overcome 6, 10 meters.
Over the next 10 years, he continued to improve his own record until he climbed 6, 14 meters in 1994. To this day, Sergei Bubka remains the only athlete who has ever jumped 6.10 meters. He conquered the height of 6, 00 meters forty-five times, which was considered almost impossible. As of June 2015, 6 meters have been climbed by athletes around the world only 100 times.
Professional career
Sergei Bubka has broken the world pole vault record 35 times in his career. He worked very hard on his technique and despite the almost complete absence of competition, he constantly improved his own results. Although he was the strongest jumper of his time, he was out of luck when it came to the Olympics. The first Olympic Games, which was held after its appearance on the international stage, was in 1984. But, unfortunately, they took place in the United States and the countries of the socialist camp boycotted him. Just two months before the start of the 1984 Olympics, he was able to climb 12 cm higher than Olympic gold medalist Pierre Quinnon. Bubka's only Olympic gold medal was won in Seoul in 1988. During the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, he was disqualified, in Atlanta in 1996, he dropped out of the fight as a result of a heel injury, and in 2000 in Sydney, he was banned from the final after he was unable to pass mark 5.70 m in his three attempts.
The reason for his success has always been his strength, speed and amazing ability. His average speed in pole vaults was 35.7 km / h, which is almost equal to the speed of a runner at 100 meters.
Awards and honorary positions
• Bubka won the Prince of Asturias Sports Prize in 1991
• Bubka was named the best sportsman of the Soviet Union for three years in a row from 1984 to 1986
• Bubka was named Sportsman of the Year 1997 by the influential newspaper L'Équipe
• Bubka entered the FICTS Hall of Fame and was awarded the Legion of Honor in 2001.
• Bubka was appointed as a member of the IAAF Council in 2001. In 2011, he was elected vice president of this organization for a four-year term.
• From 2002 to 2006, he was a member of the Ukrainian parliament and headed the committee on youth policy, physical culture, sports and tourism
Today Sergei Nazarovich is a member of the World Champions club. It is an international organization based in Monaco, under the patronage of Prince Albert II.
Personal life
When he was only twenty-one years old, he met the gymnast Lilia Tutunik. In 1984, young people signed and are still together. In 1985, a boy, Vitaly, appeared in the family, and a couple of years later his brother Sergei was born.
"For me, family is incredibly important, and in my own family everyone is very close. We understand each other, we love each other and respect each other. My family is a reflection of my life, and I am very proud of it. My wonderful wife, a former athlete, she gives a lot of support to all of us. She shares my passion for the importance of sport for society, "says Sergei Nazarovich.
Business
He developed a number of business projects that he and his family still manage today. Among them is the sports club "Sergei Bubka", created in 1990, which provides training and support to hundreds of young people, many of whom later won medals at international competitions.
Together with his brother, he owns a bakery business and has interests in other areas such as gas stations, real estate management companies and grocery stores.
