Love pole vaults Tatiana to new heights

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Ssydney: Love has sent glamorous Australian pole vaulter Tatiana Grigorieva soaring to new heights -- but her mother wishes she had been leaping for Russia.

The Russian-born blonde, whose stunning looks have made her front-page news everywhere from Sydney newspapers to 'Sports Illustrated', landed the Olympic silver medal to tumultuous acclaim from her new homeland.

The 24-year-old model immigrated to Australia three-and-a-half years ago to join her future husband, fellow pole vaulter Viktor Chastiakov. She took out citizenship just in time for the Sydney Olympics.

Her mother, Lidia Ilinecha, feels the silver medal belongs to Russia.

"I am very proud of my daughter but of course it is a pity that she won this for Australia," she told the 'Sun-Herald' newspaper in a phone interview from St Petersburg.

"It would have been better to have won a bronze for Russia than a silver for Australia," she said.

She has no intention of emigrating to join her daughter. "Of course I am sad that Tatiana has gone but I will never move to Australia. Russia is my country. I was born here and will live here forever."

Grigorieva, lifted by the crowd to soaring achievement in Sydney, is the first to admit that a husband and wife sharing the same fiercely competitive sport can be tough for their relationship.

"It has been very hard sometimes," she told the 'Sunday Telegraph' newspaper.

"But we have learned now that we have to separate training from our lifestyle, otherwise you can lose sight of what is important. And our marriage is the most important thing to us."

And she proudly displays a rose tattoo she had engraved on her stomach just before she left Russia.

"The rose is because I wanted to become a model and Viktor said I could do anything once I got to Australia. The thorns coming out of the top and bottom are spikes because I am also an athlete and you have to be very tough."

She has described pole vaulting as "like walking on a knife's edge. It can be very dangerous so you try to do everything right without being too cautious."You must be in total control, everything must happen because you want it to; you fly because you want to fly. It is a wonderful feeling."



(c) Reuters Limited.