This season's form counted for little against the world record holder in front of her home crowd. The performance was touted as her swansong, although the 31-year-old diluted such talk by saying she simply wants time away to start a family.
Isinbayeva always had the edge over her rivals despite missing first attempts at 4.65m and 4.82m. She seized the momentum and the title when she cleared 4.89m first up, despite spending the majority of the competition with her head on a rolled up towel and her feet perched on the athlete seating area as if relaxing at a Black Sea resort.
The approach reminded of the period when she was almost unbeatable between July 2003 and August 2009. She set 17 world outdoor records, eventually peaking at 5.06m, a record which still stands. She failed in three attempts to beat it but it was more for show than anything (and the chance to add a US$100,000 bonus to the US$60,000 she pocketed for the win). The spectacle highlighted her sense of occasion. At the Beijing Olympics she hid under a blanket between jumps before emerging to the crowd chorus on her way to a record mark.
Isinbayeva could have branched into an alternative career as a thespian. She knew where every camera was, teased out the anticipation before each jump, blew kisses at the crowd and cartwheeled on her victory lap, showcasing the gymnastics mastery which originally took her into pole vault in her mid-teens because she was deemed too tall at 1.74m. The crowd, which was 80 per cent full and the biggest of the meet so far, responded with unwavering support.
Her casual approach masked a core routine. She stretched in a manner which would challenge Joseph Pilates for flexibility, the track suit came off Sara Lee-style (layer upon layer upon layer), the legwarmers took a hike before emerging into her business suit.
Ahead of each jump she held a 1000-yard stare and spoke to herself at length while establishing a decent grip on the pole. Her technique appeared efficient too. To the untrained vaulting eye the power she seemed to generate through her triceps from the 'L' body position when her pole was at its most bent, was extraordinary. The way she converted horizontal speed into height indicated she'd have no problem leaping brick walls in a single bound.
Those triceps also managed a subtle Kirwanesque fend in the aftermath of her victory as a buffoon tried to muscle in for her autograph before she'd thanked her coach who had offered trackside advice throughout.
