ALBUQUERQUE (New Mexico), March 3: Olympic champion Jenn Suhr lit up the US indoor athletics championships on Saturday by leaping 5.02 metres to set a new women's pole vault world record, while throwing down the gauntlet to Russian great Yelena Isinbayeva.

The 31-year-old American's stunning vault in Albuquerque, New Mexico, eclipsed Isinbayeva's indoor mark of 5.01m set in 2012 and is sure to heat up their rivalry ahead of August's outdoor world championships in Moscow.

“I was in a groove tonight,” Suhr, who set the mark on her first attempt at the height, told reporters. “I knew some big things could happen, I just need to be healthy and come down the runway.

Suhr, who denied Isinbayeva a hat-trick of Olympic golds at the London Games, made three unsuccessful attempts at 5.07m to surpass the Russian's outdoor world record of 5.06m.

She was runner-up when Isinbayeva set a world record to win gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but turned the tables in London as the Russian struggled to a disappointing bronze.

“I knew if I could execute and stay focused and listen to the instructions I had that it could happen,” Suhr said of her record jump.—Reuters