Svetlana Feofanova

[Deerfoot]

Any other Feofanova fans on this site?

[Marlow]

Re: Svetlana Feofanova

Any other Feofanova fans on this site?

A wPV super-fan.
Feofanova doesn't seem to engender the same sort of fan following that most of her colleagues do.

[aaronk]

Re: Svetlana Feofanova

As the first-ever 16 footer, Feofanova deserves a special place in the PV Hall of Fame....if there were such a place!!
She's the female version of John Uelses, the first male 16 footer!!

It's only because she never again reached that mark that she doesn't get the recognition she deserves!
But, simply said, she was a pioneer!

[eldanielfire]

Re: Svetlana Feofanova

To be fair, her lack of attention might have something to do with Yelena Isinbayeva's absolutely stella career. Even people who don't know her name are often aware of a Russian pole vault lady who keeps breaking world records.

[polevaultpower]

Re: Svetlana Feofanova

As the first-ever 16 footer, Feofanova deserves a special place in the PV Hall of Fame....if there were such a place!!

There is a USA PV HOF, but I don't know of a formal international one

[aaronk]

Re: Svetlana Feofanova

She's still competing, right??

[norunner]

Re: Svetlana Feofanova

As the first-ever 16 footer, Feofanova deserves a special place in the PV Hall of Fame....if there were such a place!!
She's the female version of John Uelses, the first male 16 footer!!

It's only because she never again reached that mark that she doesn't get the recognition she deserves!
But, simply said, she was a pioneer!

She doesn't get the recognition because nobody outside of the US cares about 16 feet, which equals what, 4.87m ?

[aaronk]

Re: Svetlana Feofanova

As the first-ever 16 footer, Feofanova deserves a special place in the PV Hall of Fame....if there were such a place!!
She's the female version of John Uelses, the first male 16 footer!!

It's only because she never again reached that mark that she doesn't get the recognition she deserves!
But, simply said, she was a pioneer!

She doesn't get the recognition because nobody outside of the US cares about 16 feet, which equals what, 4.87m ?

4.88...according to the listing for the mark in Athletics Annual.
I think the US will probably never get fully on board with the metric system, especially for the field events.
We (US citizens) still think in terms of yards (football) and miles.
So 16 feet, or 70 feet in the SP, or 7 feet in the HJ, is much easier for us (Americans in general, not we "elitists" on this MB!) to understand.

Whether the rest of the world recognizes Feofanova's accomplishment (of being the first over 16) doesn't really matter to the average track fan here.
Her reaching 16....while Stacy Dragila never did....is a cross we still carry to this day!
But she IS a pioneer.....in the yards, feet, inches world!

[norunner]

Re: Svetlana Feofanova

I think the US will probably never get fully on board with the metric system, especially for the field events.
We (US citizens) still think in terms of yards (football) and miles.
So 16 feet, or 70 feet in the SP, or 7 feet in the HJ, is much easier for us (Americans in general, not we "elitists" on this MB!) to understand.

Whether the rest of the world recognizes Feofanova's accomplishment (of being the first over 16) doesn't really matter to the average track fan here.
Her reaching 16....while Stacy Dragila never did....is a cross we still carry to this day!
But she IS a pioneer.....in the yards, feet, inches world!

So what do they do in the US at big international meetings, for example the DL in New York? Announce and show results both in feet and meters?

[DCSIGMA]

Re: Svetlana Feofanova

I think the US will probably never get fully on board with the metric system, especially for the field events.
We (US citizens) still think in terms of yards (football) and miles.
So 16 feet, or 70 feet in the SP, or 7 feet in the HJ, is much easier for us (Americans in general, not we "elitists" on this MB!) to understand.

Whether the rest of the world recognizes Feofanova's accomplishment (of being the first over 16) doesn't really matter to the average track fan here.
Her reaching 16....while Stacy Dragila never did....is a cross we still carry to this day!
But she IS a pioneer.....in the yards, feet, inches world!

So what do they do in the US at big international meetings, for example the DL in New York? Announce and show results both in feet and meters?

I think they do show/announce both types of measurements...I know they do at Penn relays.

[Marlow]

Re: Svetlana Feofanova

To be fair, her lack of attention might have something to do with Yelena Isinbayeva's absolutely stella career.

I think it has more to do with the fact that Isi (and many other wPVers) play to the crowd and Feo doesn't. The wPV is as much spectacle as it is sport, and understanding the entertainment value is paramount to its current popularity (yes, the fact that they're beautiful women in alluring costume is undeniable also). Feo doesn't buy into that (nor should she, if she so chooses), and that often comes across as 'coldness'. I do appreciate her quiet efficiency.

[Deerfoot]

Re: Svetlana Feofanova

I think Marlow nails it. Feofanova isn't as attractive or as charismatic as Isi. Of course Isi went on to achieve much greater things, but it's hard to avoid the suspicion that Svetlana wouldn't have been as big a star even if she had accomplished as much. At the time there was genuine rivalry between them I rooted for Feofanova. Isi has grown on me over the years, but Feofanova remains my favorite polevaulter. She may not have been an Isi, but she broke world records and won world and european titles.
One further point, which put a seal on my liking for her. In the 2004 olympics Isi ended the competition by breaking the world record and Feofanova was caught on camera smiling. It was utterly spontaneous. There had been a lot of talk about their rivalry( and it does seem there was some animosity between them). Nonetheless Svetlana was able to simply celebrate her breaking the world record.

[26mi235]

Re: Svetlana Feofanova

As the first-ever 16 footer, Feofanova deserves a special place in the PV Hall of Fame....if there were such a place!!
She's the female version of John Uelses, the first male 16 footer!!

It's only because she never again reached that mark that she doesn't get the recognition she deserves!
But, simply said, she was a pioneer!

She doesn't get the recognition because nobody outside of the US cares about 16 feet, which equals what, 4.87m ?

Yes, but the metric system is not always the right human scale. For the Vault, the distance between markers (a meter) is much too large to have many special numbers, (they get lucky with 5m); in the HJ it is useless where as 8 feet for the men and 7 for the women are the outstanding, feasible markers, and 7 feet was a big deal.

[iain]

Re: Svetlana Feofanova

As the first-ever 16 footer, Feofanova deserves a special place in the PV Hall of Fame....if there were such a place!!
She's the female version of John Uelses, the first male 16 footer!!

It's only because she never again reached that mark that she doesn't get the recognition she deserves!
But, simply said, she was a pioneer!

She doesn't get the recognition because nobody outside of the US cares about 16 feet, which equals what, 4.87m ?

Yes, but the metric system is not always the right human scale. For the Vault, the distance between markers (a meter) is much too large to have many special numbers, (they get lucky with 5m); in the HJ it is useless where as 8 feet for the men and 7 for the women are the outstanding, feasible markers, and 7 feet was a big deal.

TBH it is really annoying how you refuse to use metric measurements. I mean over here in Britain we still use Imperial measurements mostly (though it is a funny mix), but when it comes to something like athletics it is much more useful to have everyone use the same measurements. I come on here and everyone is wowing over whoever putting however many feet, and it really means nothing to me.

[gh]

Re: Svetlana Feofanova

Hate to be harsh, but what a ludicrous complaint. If you went to a board based out of Paris would you bitch because everybody was posting in French?