Double Olympic champion and world record holder Elena Isinbaeva relinquished her Olympic crown to Jennifer Suhr in London this Monday.

TheRussian, who has been the undoubted star of the sport over the last 10 years, was unable to clear 4.75 and gambled on a single attempt at 4.80, which she was unable to make, leaving Suhr the silver medal winner from Beijing to take gold ahead of Cuba's Yarisley Silva.

"Beijing taught me a lot. That silver medal was so precious to me but I knew I wanted the gold," said the Suhr

"Before we came out here my coach said I would win and he never says that. He normally says he will see me on the beach. It put that extra spark into me I thought that I could do this," she added, heaping praise on her coach

"If he could push me over that bar he would. He cares so much. He has that passion and he knows how much I wanted it. It's two people working for one goal," she assured

Meanwhile Isinbaeva assured reporters she was happy with bronze, adding that having won a third Olympic medal could inspire her to continue competing.

"I am really happy. It is like a gold medal for me. It has been a lot of things in the past which have been disappointing for three years. I think this bronze tells me 'Elena, don't quit', as I planned to quit after London ," commented the two times Olympic champion.

In a competition held in difficult blustery conditions, nobody was able to clear 4.80, but Suhr took gold due to Silva needing two attempts to clear 4.45 much earlier in the competition.

Isinbaeva had not looked at her best and missed her first attempt at a relatively modest 4.55, after opting out of jumping 4.30 and 4.45 along with Suhr and Silke Spiegelburg. She then elected not to take her second attempt and move directly onto 4.65

Meanwhile Suhr, who cleared 4.55 at her first attempt, opted to move directly onto 4.70 and not jump at 4.65.

Isinbaeva may have only had two shots at 4.64, but she only needed one, clearing the distance with room to spare.

Suhr's confidence in skipping 4.65 was well founded as she cleared 4.70 at the first attempt as did Isinbaeva, although she then failed her first attempt at 4.75 as did Isinbaeva.

Suhr then cleared 4.75, a height only two people, herself included had ever cleared at an Olympic final, or it was until Silva cleared as well.

The Cuban had been jumping with increased confidence as the competition progressed, meanwhile Isinbaeva missed her second attempt and opted to move to 4.80 staking everything on one desperate vault.

The crowd cheered her on the run in, but it was not to be as the Russian, who has been the undoubted star of her sport, had to settle for bronze, leaving the battle for gold between Suhr and Silva.

The end was a slight anti-climax as they both missed their 4.80 jumps, but that will not worry Suhr, who can now say she has moved out of Isinbaeva's shadow and lay claim to being the best in the World

"Yelena said, 'I'm glad it's all over and you deserve it'. That was really special," concluded Suhr, while Silva was also delighted with the result.

"I am very happy with the result. And for my friends and family it has been a marvelous experience. I am really proud for my country because this is the first time that we won a silver medal (in the women's pole vault) I put in a lot of hard effort. I have always dreamed of winning a medal and it didn't matter what color," said Silva.