Salvo (North Carolina): Struggling Russian Olympic pole vault champion and world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva said on Saturday she would take an indefinite break from competition.
"I have been thinking over this very carefully the last three weeks and now come to the conclusion that a break from competing is absolutely necessary for me," the 27-year-old said in a statement released by her agent.
"After more than eight years of very hard training and competing at the highest levels both indoors and outdoors each year I need to step back in order for my body to properly recover."
The many-times world record holder announced her decision a month after failing to win a medal at the world indoor championships in Doha.
The failure marked the second consecutive world championship at which she had performed poorly. She did not clear a height at last year's world outdoor championships in Berlin.
"It is my full intention to continue training and keep myself fit," said Isinbayeva, who holds the world outdoor record at 5.06 metres and the indoor mark at 5.00.
"At this moment I cannot exactly say when I will return to competitions."
She left the door open, however, to perhaps compete at the European Championships in July.
"I have not completely ruled out the entire summer circuit or the European Championships in Barcelona," she said.
Isinbayeva said her long-term goals remained the same, including defending her Olympic title in London in 2012 and winning world championships in 2011 and 2013.
She had hinted after her Doha failure that a break from competition might be coming.
"I need to find the spark again mentally," she said at the time. "To win at this level, you need to be fresh. Maybe I am tired emotionally and need some rest."
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