Lena was always up to the mark. Even when things were not going quite as she would have liked.

Because she’s the queen of athletics, and queens have patience of steel. But this doesn’t in the least stop her being an open and, in some ways, even a trusting person, capable of very generous gestures, noble deeds…Lena can be joyful and straightforward like a child, but if she needs to, she can also keep a strict distance. Perhaps this is why her media image is different from the real Lena.

I found it really easy talking to her. Sportsmen for whom sport is not a hobby but life itself understand one another almost instinctively. And besides, Lena adores rhythmic gymnastics, and she actually began her career in artistic gymnastics.

Her love affair with sport continues, and her schedule is full all the way to 2013. There’s much delight in this, but lots of risk, as well, and an awful lot of work, Lena knows how to hold on to the title “queen of sport”: you have to meet each defeat with a new record. This is the secret of Yelena Isinbaeva’s success.

Find out all about it in “Steps towards Success” on REN TV at 1130 on Sunday 27th September The programme will be repeated at 0015 on 28th September.