Sergei Bubka
Updated on 8 September 2012. Serhiy Nazarovych Bubka (Ukrainian: Сергі й Наза рович Бу бка; Russian: Серге й Наза рович Бу бка, Sergey Nazarovich Bubka; born 4 December 1963) is a former Ukrainian pole vaulter. He represented the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991, was twice named Athlete of the Year by Track & Field News, and in 2012 was one of 24 athletes inducted as inaugural members of the International Association of Athletics Federations Hall of Fame. Bubka has been involved with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) since 2001 and has served as a Vice President since 2007. During this time, he remained on the Athletes’ Commission (2001–2011) and is also a Council Member for ASOIF, the Association for Summer Olympic International Federations. Bubka commented: “I have been working at the IAAF for a long time and my work is not limited to one area. The good of athletics is something deep in my heart.” Sergey Bubka first got involved with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1996 when he was elected as a Member of the Athletes’ Commission, providing input into the governance of sport from the perspective of an active athlete. Almost 20 years later he is still involved as an Honorary Member. He became an IOC Member in 1999 and has been involved in a wide range of Commissions, including Chairman of the Evaluation and then the Coordination Commissions for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010. As President of the National Olympic Committee in Ukraine since 2005, he has transformed the organisation into one of the most progressive in the world. It has staff based in all of the nation’s 27 regions with each taking responsibility for delivering an array of programmes designed to bring young people into sport, realise the potential of the most talented athletes and promote the Olympic Movement and its values. Bubka won six consecutive IAAF World Championships, an Olympic gold medal and broke the world record for men's pole vault 35 times (17 outdoor and 18 indoor records). He was the first pole vaulter to clear 6.0 metres and 6.10 metres. He held the world record of 6.15 meters, set on 21 February 1993 in Donetsk, Ukraine for almost 21 years until France's Renaud Lavillenie cleared 6.16 metres on 15 February 2014 at the same meet in the same arena.