Olympic Track 2012: Ranking Women's Pole Vault Favorites

Women's pole vault has been the Yelena Isinbayeva story for the last decade. She will have some strong competition from a talented field at the London Games, but is the favorite to win gold.

Competition began Saturday with the qualification round. Most of the elite pole vaulters will do enough to move on without pushing for top marks.

The finals are on Monday, August 6, starting at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Following are medal predictions, along with six medal hopefuls, all of whom have cleared at least 15 feet, nine inches (4.8 meters).

Medal Hopeful: Martina Strutz

Competitor: Martina Strutz
Representing: Germany
Personal Best: 4.80 meters (15 feet, 9 inches)

Strutz could be a wildcard. The 30-year-old took silver at the 2011 World Champions, hitting her personal best.

Medal Hopeful: Silke Spiegelburg

Competitor: Silke Spiegelburg
Representing: Germany
Personal Best: 4.82 meters (15 feet, 9 3/4 inches)

Medal Hopeful: Monika Pyrek

Competitor: Monika Pyrek
Representing: Poland
Personal Best: 4.82 meters (15 feet, 9 3/4 inches)

Medal Hopeful: Anna Rogowska

Competitor: Anna Rogowska
Representing: Poland
Personal Best: 4.85 meters (15 feet, 11 inches)

Medal Hopeful: Holly Bleasdale

Competitor: Holly Bleasdale
Representing: Great Britain
Personal Best: 4.85 meters (15 feet, 11 inches)

The home crowd in London will be ready to cheer for Bleasdale. The 20-year-old is making her first appearance in the Olympics and won bronze at the 2012 Indoor Championships.

Medal Hopeful: Svetlana Feofanova

Competitor: Svetlana Feofanova
Representing: Russia
Personal Best: 4.88 meters (16 feet, 0 inches)

Bronze Prediction: Jenn Suhr

Competitor: Jenn Suhr
Representing: U.S.
Personal Best: 4.92 meters (16 feet, 1 3/4 inches)

Suhr is the U.S. champion and record holder. After a disappointing fourth-place finish at the 2011 World Championships, she came to London with the goal of reaching the podium.

With a silver medal in the 2008 Games, Suhr's mother, Sue, says Jenn will be happy with any medal. 

"No, I don't think she'd be disappointed," Sue Stuczynski said in Dunkirk, New York's Observer. "For Jenn, she just wants to do well. If she does well, she's going to be pleased. She definitely wants the gold, but she won't be disappointed."

"

I am so excited to have made my second Olympic Team.So difficult the make our USA Team.I thank God for the guidance and blessing.

— Jenn Suhr (@JennSuhr) June 24, 2012"

Silver Prediction: Fabiana Murer

Competitor: Fabiana Murer
Representing: Brazil 
Personal Best: 4.85 meters (15 feet, 11 inches)

Murer is the 2011 World Champion in pole vault, setting her personal best mark. She is one of the few competitors that can challenge for gold.

Gold Prediction: Yelena Isinbayeva

Competitor: Yelena Isinbayeva
Representing: Russia 
Personal Best: 5.06 meters (16 feet, 7 1/4 inches)-world record

Isinbayeva has simply been dominant in pole vault since 2004. She was close to that stage the prior two years, taking a silver medal at the European Championships in '02 and a bronze at the 2005 World Championships. She won gold in Athens and Beijing and added a pair of gold medals in the World Championships in between.

She has set indoor and outdoor world records 28 times in her career, most recently topping her indoor mark with a vault of 5.01 meters (16 feet, 5 1/4 inches) in February, 2012.

Isinbayeva took a year-long break from competition partway through 2010; she wasn't competing at the level she expected of herself. As witnessed by a new indoor record, she is back to form.

One tangible goal for Isinbayeva will be topping her outdoor world record.