Video: Yelena Isinbayeva: Team Russia 2007

[rainbowgirl28]

Bruce Florman, here is a project for you!

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wr7LAfRaBM


And for everyone who doesn't speak Russian, you can see her new hairdo. She holds a rat at one point and there is a cute video of the Beijing mascots.

Part 2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD_v7owPgDo
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk1ie0NgyxU

Part 3 has video of Isinbayeva swimming with the dolphins (and talking in English).

[achtungpv]

you can see her new hairdo.

The cat from outer space called. He wants his helmet returned unharmed.

[BruceFlorman]

Bruce Florman, here is a project for you!

Way cool ... but I've clearly got a long way to go. I caught a couple of words out of every other sentence or so, but I don't know if I was really able to follow what they were talking about any better than you were. Maybe if I recorded the audio and slowed it waaaaay down.

[vault3rb0y]

I love her hair! Maybe its just cuz she vaults higher than i do, but i think she looks freakin gorgeous!

[BruceFlorman]

... She holds a rat at one point ...

In case it wasn't obvious what the deal was with the rat...

New Year rat craze grips Russia

Russian pet shops are reporting a shortage of domestic rats, as shoppers snap them up ahead of the Chinese New Year - the Year of the Rat.

Shoppers are said to be buying even mice, hamsters or gerbils. But vets warn that some unwanted rats will be released in the streets.

While Russia's main religion is Christian Orthodox, Chinese astrology is a pastime for many.

Chinese New Year, based on the Moon's cycles, begins on 7 February this year.

Rats are soft, charming and clean and do not need a great deal of care, traders say.

But "not everyone is going to be delighted to get a real rat as a present, and those that can't house them will either return them to a shop, or release them in the streets," said one Moscow vet quoted by the AFP news agency.

In December customers hoping to buy rats formed long queues in pet shops in the northern city of Novgorod, Itar-Tass news agency reported.

[pelle3]

Part 2/3:

Yelena is happy she won (a share of) the jackpot in 2007 and didn:t lose a competition. She is even more proud that her sister had a baby four months ago (at time of taping) - a boy named Vania, and she:s excited about it; she doesn:t want her nephew to call her "aunt", however, because it makes her feel old, but once when she came to her sister:s home, she said to her nephew, "do you recognise your aunt?" Vania answered "yes," in baby talk!

Her nephew and her sister always watch her compete on television; perhaps Vania sees her, but he doesn:t understand what he is watching, Isinbayeva says. He recognised her directly when Yelena came home, and he never cried.

Host says that everyone is waiting for five metres from her, to which Isinbayeva says it:s mentally challenging.

Now year of the rat - an Olympic year.

Is it difficult to be a mega star? Yes, I didn:t know I was a mega star. I think I am a simple person, and that is why I can live very freely and easily. I can go to Volgograd 99% will know me... I am very happy people can take pictures with me, and I can give autographs; Monte Carlo, no, because everybody there is stars.

Volgograd is my past life. Nobody knows me in Monte Carlo, and I can go anywhere without people giving me attention. Sometimes, if I get tired of Monte Carlo, I can go back and relax in Volgograd.

Would you, Yelena, like to get a pet? It is too expensive, because I am always going somewhere, and a pet needs attention. I can only be there three months until training for the Games begins. I wanted to take a small cat -- maybe even a stray. Doesn:t matter which kind (except Siamese cats). She also likes rats.

[pelle3]

Part 3/3: Has horoscope read to her: After Olympics, everything will be fine.

One day she wants to be a mother who has a lot of children; she really loves children very much. She understood that from the time she was small that she would want to have children. She really loves playing with kids, and did so even as a small kid. She has many mother instincts in her from a long time ago. Right now, she can:t manage being a mother, however, as it is sport which takes precedence.

What does she think about dolphins? I love them so much, she says - more than cats.

Host: You are not so stable, Isinbayeva, because one minute it:s cats, next it:s dolphins.

Yelena: I can have cats at home, dolphins I can:t. Dolphins are nice and clever, and sometimes I feel they are like kids.

After dolphin episode:

What do you do 31-december? Normally I am coming from somewhere and then go home. Volgograd from Monaco. I almost stayed in the airport last year due to a lot of smoke in the city, but I eventually got home. New Year is for the family, and I need to be home. Strange foods when you:re outside of the country. I love Russian salads, but now I am too serious about the food. I drank champagne and made a wish for New Years, but I don:t drink normally; I don:t think you need to drink at all.

Host: It:s nice to hear you say that.

Isinbayeva: Hard to see people my age smoking and drinking -- it looks terrible. I think perhaps as me setting an example, people will see that you don:t need alcohol (wine, etc) and smoking to feel good.

Gets a fake rat from host, who says it will give her luck, health and happiness. She thanks him.