Isinbayeva retains crown but misses record

OSAKA, Japan, Aug 28 (Reuters) Russia's pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva easily retained her title but was unable to break her own world record at the world championships today.

With her opponents all eliminated, the Olympic champion attempted to break her world best of 5.01 metres but failed with three vaults at 5.02 in sultry conditions in Osaka.

Isinbayeva won with a vault of 4.80, while Czech Katerina Badurova took silver with 4.75 and Russia's Svetlana Feofanova bronze after taking an extra vault to clear the same height.

''I won and that was the most important,'' Isinbayeva told reporters. ''The only small disappointment is that I did not jump the world record. I wanted to show everybody something special.

''Maybe I should have had more jumps in between instead of going from 4:80 to 5.02. The heat also made it hard. I was a bit fatigued so it was mentally quite draining.'' Isinbayeva spent the first three rounds lying on her back with a towel over her face and returned to the same position after limbering up with a vault of 4.65.

The 25-year-old pumped her fist and shrieked with joy after sailing over 4.80 at the second attempt. No one else cleared that height, paving the way for Isinbayeva to make her record bid.

She came closest on her third attempt but her failure to raise the bar for the first time since 2005 did not dampen her delight at defending her world title.

Isinbayeva, who has now been beaten only three times in 43 competitions in the past three years, celebrated with a back flip on the landing mat and blew kisses to the cameras and the crowd.

REUTERS BJR RAI2112