The 5.06 m clearance in Zurich, 2009
Isinbayeva had already secured the World Championship title when the bar went up for a record attempt. She cleared on her first try, closing out a career during which she rewrote the record book almost every season. The clearance is still shown in coaching clinics as a model of a plant and swing executed with almost no wasted motion, even at full fatigue late in a championship meet. Isinbayeva announced her retirement from competitive vaulting years later, but the mark itself was never seriously threatened during the years she remained active.
