Tata Mumbai Marathon's International event Ambassador; Sergey Bubka was present to dicuss the marathon, his legendary pole vault career and the importance of training and fitness for a sportsperson.
Bubka spoke about the importance of running. "Running is the base for all sports, it is the core. If we talk about pole vault, it is basically athletics and gymnastics. Everything in our training preparation involves running; we practice distance running, short run, long and high jump. One needs to be fit and have excellent physical condition to succeed in any sport."
Sergey expressed his thoughts on preparation for a marathon. "It is very important to build you career step by step, and especially for a marathon, a gradual preparation process is key. You need to be mature, and be able to run the marathon; which is essentially a lot of time and months of training. To achieve the target time, a fitness routine and tremendous hardwork is required."
Bubka shared his advice on how runners can make their own record. "Continue to develop your skills, try to avoid mistakes, aim to perform better the next time you get a chance, and continue to polish your skills and methodology. It's important to have a good coach to achieve your goals and schedule an appropriate training programme."
Bubka's memory of when he learned about pole vault. "There was only one pole vault coach, back then. Of course it is an exciting feeling to run with a stick, jump and fly. I started simple; from the bench and the table I tried to be in the air.
"My coach was very intelligent and very smart, a good man who created interest, who taught me the right skills with the best possible methods. It is an achievement for both the athelete and the coach, when a pole vaulter performs well.
"I was fortunate that I had the same coach right from when I started at scratch, till the time I reach right at the top. It was a dream partnership, both for me as a pupil and for him as a coach. "
Sergey Bubka is a Ukrainian legendary pole vaulter, six-time world champion, 1988 Olympic Gold medalist and 35-times world record holder for men's pole vault. He is the international event ambassador for the Tata Mumbai Marathon 2018 and will be present on race day morning to cheer the 44,407 runners participating across different race categories.
