Still the best despite the international ban: Russian athlete Anzhelika Sidorova sets new WORLD-LEADING pole vault result

Russian world champion pole vaulter Anzhelika Sidorova, who is not eligible to take part in international athletics events due to a ban imposed by World Athletics, has set a new world-leading result at a competition in Moscow.

The 28-year-old cleared a height of 4.95m, posting a new season-best result at the Russian pole vault festival in Luzhniki.

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Inspired by her incredible progress, reigning world title holder Sidorova moved the bar to 5m, but failed to successfully tackle the height on any of the three attempts.

Being a member of the Russian athletics team, Sidorova is not allowed to compete internationally – despite having a clean doping record.

Last year she won the IAAF World Athletic Championships in Doha, Qatar, beating reigning Olympic title holder Ekaterini Stefanidi from Greece and Olympic runner-up Sandi Morris of the USA.

Last autumn, World Athletics suspended the Authorized Neutral Athlete (ANA) process, prohibiting Russian team members from taking part in international events even under a neutral flag.

The reason for the tough action was a scandal over alleged manipulation and document falsification in connection with the doping case of silver high-jumper Danil Lysenko.

If the issue is not resolved and Russian competitors are forbidden from receiving even a neutral status, they could miss the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.

On February 28 RUSAF elected its new president Evgeny Yurchenko, who will have less than five months to save Russian athletes from a possible Olympic ban.