Danijela Grgic of Croatia during the women's 400m semi-final (© Getty Images)
She really is such a tease. It took more than two hours from the beginning of the qualification session for defending champion Yelena Isinbayeva to make her one and very fleeting appearance.
For much of the Pole Vault preliminaries the Russian superstar sat on the floor motionless with a white towel over head oblivious to the 30 other women gunning for a spot in Monday's final.
Yet when she eventually emerged from her private universe it was business as usual as she popped over 4.55m with the minimum of fuss. Even when she is not in action, she always somehow seems to be the centre of attention.
In the end the automatic qualification standard of 4.60m was not needed. Eleven women cleared 4.55m and German Kristina Gadschiew also advanced with 4.50m. Gadschiew actually provided one of the moments of great drama during qualification.
The bar appeared destined to crash to the mat with her first effort at 4.50m, but miraculously it remained horizontal and as the crowd roared their approval while she breathed a huge sigh of relief. How fortunate it proved.
Germany will have a full complement of three athletes in the final as 2008 World Athletics Final winner Silke Spiegelburg and Anna Battke both cleared 4.55m, the former with a flawless qualification record.
The Polish duo Anna Rogowska, the World No.4, and Monika Pyrek, the 2005 World silver medallist both advanced, although the latter had a couple of frustrating failures.
Meanwhile, Russian boast four in the final as Isinbayeva will be joined by European Indoor champion Yuliya Golubchikova, Aleksandra Kiryashova and Tatyana Polnova. The other qualifiers were Chelsea Johnson of the USA, Kate Dennison of Great Britain and the world No.2 and South American record holder Fabiana Murer, who also boasted a perfect record.
A notable footnote to the competition was the non-qualification of the 1999 and 2001 World champion Stacy Dragila. The 38-year-old US veteran, who plans to retire at the end of the season, cleared a modest best of 4.25m and disappointingly exited her final World Championship competition.
Steve Landells for the IAAF
