(MENAFN - Muscat Daily) Despite breaking the world record 35 times in a glittering 18 year long career, legendary pole vaulter Sergey Bubka revealed that he left the sport with an unfulfilled dream - he wanted to jump much higher than what he achieved at his peak.Bubka, whose 1994 outdoor world record of 6.14m still stands tall, told Muscat Daily in an exclusive interview that there was a chance for him to jump higher, but that somehow didn't happen.The 49 year old, who was in Muscat on Monday on an invitation from the Oman Olympic Committee (OOC) to discuss sporting ties between Oman and Ukraine, said, ''A lot of analysis was done those days and based on that, it's been concluded that a jump of 6.34m or even 6.37m was possible for me. But the record that we have now is 6.14m.''Bubka added, ''If you ask me, I believe it was potentially possible for me to jump 6.37m.''A year before Bubka created the outdoor world record in Italy in 1994, he jumped 6.15m back home in Ukraine to set the indoor world record.When the former pole vault star retired in 2001, he held the world champion's title for a record 16 years - from 1983-1999. He also won six consecutive gold medals at International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) events and bagged the Olympic gold in Seoul, in 1988.Bubka said, ''At that time, I had this dream of jumping 6.20m, but I didn't succeed. I must accept that. At times, injury and bad weather stopped me when I wanted to go higher. I don't regret that either. I did what I did and I achieved what I could.''Bubka is nowadays into sports administration. He is the vice-chairman of the IAAF, an executive board member of the IOC, and chairman of the Ukraine's national Olympic committee. Also, he was the member of the Ukrainian parliament from 2002-2006.Bubka is tipped to challenge Lord Sebastian Coe for the IAAF presidency in 2015, but he played down that possibility, saying that it was merely media hype. Coe is currently one of four IAAF vice-chairmen, alongside Bubka.''Right now, I am enjoying my role as IAAF vice-chairman. We have a very good IAAF president in Lamine Diack, his term is till 2015. I don't want to say anything more on this matter.''He added, ''I am happy to give something back to sports, and this role keeps me associated with sports development.''Upon his arrival in Muscat, Bubka was welcomed by Habib Macki, acting OOC chairman, Hilal al Sinani, OOC secretary general, and Sheikh Saif al Hosni, Oman Athletics Association (OAA) chairman.Bubka also met the chiefs of various sports associations in Oman. Macki said, ''We discussed with him how the two countries can benefit from each other. Ukraine is advanced in many areas related to sports, while we are good in hockey and sailing, which aren't big there.''
