Yelena Isinbaeva is to take a break from sport to have a child before she considers a comeback for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, the Russian pole vault queen said Tuesday.
Isinbaeva, 30, won the bronze medal at the London Games on Monday, and took it as a signal she must shelve plans to retire.
However, the double Olympic champion and setter of 28 world records said she wants to start a family before entertaining the idea of competing again in 2016.
"Four years," Isinbaeva said pensively. "In any event I need to go on maternity leave, because they say it inspires."
"The girls say that after you give birth to a child you want to get back to the grind right away, that it's a pleasure to train," she said.
Isinbaeva reveals little about her private life, but is thought to be involved with a Ukrainian named Artem.
She jumped 4.70 meters to take third place in Monday's final, which was won by America's Jenn Suhr with 4.75.
Immediately after the competition, Isinbaeva said she may compete in the 2013 world championships on home soil in Moscow, but admitted she needed a break first.
Isinbaeva was speaking to reporters at Bosco Club in London.
