Anastasija Reiberger

Anastasija Steinbeck, née Ryzhikh (born 19 September 1977 in Omsk) is a Russian-born German pole vaulter.

She is the older sister of fellow pole vaulter Lisa Ryzih.

After living in Russia as a child, father Vladimir Ryzhikh moved his family to the German city of Ulm in 1992.

He was a pioneer of pole vault in Germany and introduced his children to the sport.

Soon, his elder daughter "Nastja", as she was then called, flourished in this sport (like her younger sister Lisa Ryzih later), setting several junior records and participating for Germany after obtaining German citizenship when she was 18.

For her German passport, her first name was transcribed in German ("Настя" = "Nastja"; "Nastya" in English transcription) and her family name in French ("Рыжих" = "Ryjikh"; "Ryzhikh" in English transcription)

Her greatest success was the gold medal in the 1999 World Indoor Championships.

Ryzhikh's greatest success was the gold medal in the 1999 world indoor championships in Maebashi.

In 2000, she made headlines when she posed nude for the German Max lifestyle magazine.

Unfortunately, she struggled with several injuries later, which caused her to decline.

After some meagre years, she returned to the German elite by becoming German outdoor vice champion twice (2005, 2006).

Steinbeck's personal best is 4.63 m, achieved in July 2006 in Nürnberg.

In 2007, Ryjikh married.

Long referred to as "Nastja Ryzhikh" (with countless name variations due to the unusual transcription), she decided to take on the last name of her husband and wanted to be officially referred to as "Anastasija", changing her name to Anastasija Steinbeck.

As of 2016, this ranks her tenth among German pole vaulters.