'Beauty Bird' Olympic Champion Pole Vaulter Reunites With Russian Army Team

Russia’s world pole vaulting queen Yelena Isinbayeva has returned to her sports club.

The athlete has signed a five-year contract with the Russian army for the military post of track and field instructor and will work for the Central Sports Army Club (CSKA), which she previously competed for.

Earlier this year, Isinbayeva announced that she was resuming her pole vaulting career; she had taken time out following the 2013 World Track and Field Championships in Moscow to have her first child.

The renowned athlete has not ruled out representing Russia at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but only if she would have the chance to compete for a gold medal.

CSKA is Russia’s leading sports club, and is often referred to in the West as "Red Army" or "the Red Army team" because during Soviet times it was a part of the Armed Forces sports society, which in turn was associated with the Soviet Army.

The club trains athletes for 40 Olympic and 9 non-Olympic sports.

Isinbayeva won two gold medals at the Olympics: in 2004 and in 2008; she also won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics. She is a three times world champion and a four times indoor world champion. She has set 28 world records.

She became the first woman to clear the five-meter barrier in 2005. Her current world record is 5.06 m outdoors, set in Zurich in August 2009.