Paris, July 18 (DPA) Yelena Isinbayeva required just one jump Friday to move within two victories of a $1 million Golden League jackpot along with three other contenders.
The Russian world and Olympic champion decided to call it a day after one pole vault of 4.65 metres gave her victory on a cool and rainy evening.
Jamaican sprinter Kerron Stewart, American 400 m runner Sanya Richards and Ethiopian distance runner Kenenisa Bekele also made no mistakes in their bid for the jackpot.
The four athletes have won their event at the first four Golden League stops (Berlin, Oslo, Rome, Paris), with the meets in Zurich and Brussels to follow after the Aug 15-23 world championships in Berlin.
Six-time winners win or share the full jackpot. If no athlete manages six victories, $500,000 are won or shared by five-time winners.
The Paris top attraction was set for later in the evening, with triple Olympic champion and world record holder Usain Bolt of Jamaica to contest the 100 m.
Isinbayeva was 40 cm below her world record of 5.05 m, but decided in deteriorating conditions that it was not worth to continue and risk an injury four weeks before the worlds.
Compatriot Svetlana Feofanova, the 2003 world champion in the Stade de France, was second with 4.