ATHLETICS: Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva lived up to a pre-meeting promise at Lausanne's Super Grand Prix last night by setting a world record for the 14th time in her career.

The 23-year-old Olympic champion comfortably cleared 4.93 metres, adding a centimetre to the previous best mark which she herself set in Brussels last September. "It's fantastic for me, I'm so happy," Isinbayeva said. "It's not easy, even if it looks easy."

Despite that claim, the former gymnast says she has already cleared five metres in training, though she intends to take her world record attempts "one centimetre at a time". Her long-term aim is to surpass the haul of Ukrainian pole vaulter Sergey Bubka who set 35 world records during his career.

"I don't know how high I can jump," the Russian added. "Maybe 5.10 or even 5.15. I just don't know my potential."

Yesterday evening's performance earned Isinbayeva her seventh outdoor world record, with the other seven achieved at indoor meetings. While the world record dominated the night, there were plenty of other strong performances, as well as the odd upset.

French sprinter Ronald Pognon provided perhaps the biggest shock by winning the men's 100 metres ahead of Ghana's Aziz Zakari and American Olympic champion Justin Gatlin.

Posting a personal best of 9.99 seconds, Pognon finished 0.03 ahead of Zakari with Gatlin a further 0.01 away.

"My left leg felt a little tight and I didn't want to push it too much," said Gatlin, adding that he still intended to compete at Friday's Golden League meeting in Rome.

Gatlin's compatriot and fellow Olympic gold medallist Jeremy Wariner was never in danger of suffering a similar upset as he cruised to victory in the 400 metres in 44.96.

Chandra Sturrup of Bahamas was also in commanding form as she stormed through the women's 100 metres to set a year's best of 10.84. USA's Lauryn Williams was second, with France's Christine Arron third.