SEVILLE, Spain -- Maxim Tarasov of Russia jumped out of the shadow of Sergei Bubka on Thursday, soaring higher than the pole vault legend had ever gone during his 16-year reign over the world championships.
Tarasov, who was runner-up to Bubka at the last two editions, set a championship record of 6.02 meters to beat Australian Dmitriy Markov and Israeli Aleksandr Averbukh.
"I am my own man,'' the new champion said. "I hope when talking about the pole vault, people will now not mention Bubka anymore but instead just talk about Tarasov. Bubka will not be pleased.''
Bubka held the championship record of 6.01 meters, a mark he set in Athens, Greece two years ago when he won his sixth world title in a row. And Tarasov immediately rubbed it in.
"Victory was the most important thing for me but the championship record gave me extra satisfaction,'' Tarasov said.
Bubka, 35, still holds the world record of 6.14 meters and Tarasov has come no closer than 6.05.
The two could still meet at the Sydney 2000 Olympics for a final showdown.
Markov took silver with 5.90 meters and Averbukh cleared 5.80 meters on his second attempt to take third place and set a national record. Before Averbukh, Israel had never finished better than seventh in any world championship event.
Tarasov jumped over 5.96 on his third and last attempt, dangerously clipping the bar, but not enough to dash his title hopes. To put more pressure on Markov, Tarasov cleared 6.02 on his first attempt.
Markov had cleared 5.90 meters on his first attempt, and then skipped 5.96 to move on straight to 6.02.
After Tarasov had cleared that height, Markov went for two attempts at 6.07 meters but failed.
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