Isinbayeva wins Russian Athlete of the Year award

Moscow: World pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva has been named Russia`s Athlete of the Year in a nationwide poll conducted by sports journalists.

Isinbayeva`s gold medal was for many Russians the highlight of the August 10-18 world athletics championships in Moscow. At 31, she has two Olympic titles, has set 28 world records and is one of the heroes of Russian sport. Russia`s soccer coach Fabio Capello and Mikhail Likhachev, coach of the country`s beach soccer team, were named Best Coaches of the Year after collecting an equal number of votes. Capello led Russia to their first World Cup appearance since 2002 after topping their qualifying group ahead of Portugal while Likhachev guided the Russians to their second consecutive beach soccer World Cup title in Tahiti in September. Russian men`s volleyball team took the Team of the Year after winning the 2013 World League.