Aleksandr Averbukh
Aleksandr "Alex" Valeryevich Averbukh (, ; born October 1, 1974) is a retired Russian decathlete and Israeli Olympic athlete, who competed in the pole vault. He won silver and bronze medals at the World Championships, won a gold medal as the European champion in both 2002 and 2006, and won a gold medal at the 2013 Maccabiah Games. His personal best is 5.93 metres. Biography. He was born in the Russian SSR, USSR, and is Jewish. He was formerly a decathlete competing for Russia, but in 1999 he became an Israeli citizen and rose to top level in pole vault . He won silver and bronze medals at the World Championships and won a gold medal twice as the European champion in 2002 and 2006. His personal best is 5.93 metres, achieved in 2003 in Madrid. He retired from competition in 2009. He competed on behalf of Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. In 2013 he briefly returned from retirement to compete in the 19th Maccabiah where he won first place. One of his daughters is the model Anastasya Averbukh.