Tatyana Lebedeva clearly enjoying herself in Athens (© Tsiklitiria organisers)
Tatyana Lebedeva, the Athens Olympic champion in Long Jump, World record holder indoors in the Triple Jump (15.36m), already has numerous titles to her credit in both jumps, and is coming to Osaka with a strong intention to take home another two.
Prepared for Osaka double jump duty
With 7.15m and 15.14m efforts this season, respectively the No. 2 and No. 1 on the season’s world lists, it’s not a surprise that Lebedeva has chosen to double at the World Championships, with an extra, perhaps more personal emphasis on the Triple Jump.
“I hope to show maximum results and do my best to gain revenge for the defeat at World Championship in Helsinki in 2005,” said Lebedeva, who qualified for the final two years ago but decided against competing due to injury. “This season is going well now, hopefully it will continue this way.”
In her final competition before Osaka, Lebedeva won the Triple Jump at the Russian Challenge on 5 August with a 14.86m leap, well ahead of her old rival Yamile Aldama's (SUD) 14.46m. The weather in Moscow was hot and humid that day, not the best for such competitions. “This is what we should expect in Osaka. I know the place and I am preparing for hard weather conditions there.”
Learning to cope with emotions
Speaking of what interferes with her performances at competitions, Lebedeva said, “I am a very energetic person and I must learn to cope with my emotions and temperament. Emotions are overwhelming, but when I get tired after several trials, my jumps become better. Some athletes perform better in the beginning, I, on the contrary, in the last trials.”
She also noted the key differences between the two jump events. “In the Long Jump you can just use all your might at once: run up strongly, and if got the board right - jump. In the Triple Jump one has to be calm and relaxed to keep everything under control. The Triple Jump does not forgive mistakes. It must be done by 33%.”
More free time now than in Spring
Lebedeva tried not to be too much absorbed with training prior to Osaka.
“Now I have only one practice daily, and in spring I did two a day,” she said. “Now it is a burst, then a pause, a burst, a pause. I also do big training volumes, but the work-out is such, that does not load me very much. A couple of days pass and I feel that lightness return to me. I try not to get too absorbed with training for Osaka, go out often, go shopping, walk for pleasure, and meet with journalists.”
Her source of inspiration
Since 2004 Lebedeva has been friends with Sri Chinmoy, a philosopher, musician, writer and athlete, an American of Indian origin. She visits him in New York at least once a year, and they regularly exchange telephone calls and e-mails.
“Sri Chinmoy is very interesting person for me,” Lebedeva said. “Every creative person – a poet, a writer, an athlete - needs inspiration. Many athletes, being at the peak of fame, finish their sports career, when they do not see what is ahead, where to move. I have always sought inspiration and it has always helped me move forward. First I wanted to become elite, to win World Championships. When this happened, I felt exhausted inside. When I learned that I was pregnant (her daughter Anastasia will be five in September), I decided that it must become the stimulus for me, when I have to get back into the form, catch up in my trainings, move ahead. Then, after an unsuccessful for me performance in the Triple Jump in Athens, decided that this will push me forward for the next four years.”
“Sri Chinmoy also inspires me,” Lebedeva continued. “When I meet with him, talk to him, I get an internal charge, an inspiration, which helps me very much. When I was in Lausanne he called me to support and asked not to get upset that I lost the Long Jump,” her only loss this season in nine competitions. “It is difficult of course to do two events in one day. I promised him to win the next competition and I kept my word.”
To thank Chinmoy for his friendship and support, Lebedeva said she has a present in the works.
“In Osaka I shall try to make him a present for his birthday,” she said. “I shall have finals (Long Jump) on the 28th and it will be still the 27th in the USA, which is his birthday.”
Yelena Kurdyumova and Sergey Porada for the IAAF
