Ever wonder what it would be like to compete against Sergei Bubka in pole vault? Today's American olympic athletes are doing that in their training:

CHULA VISTA, Calif. - As often as he likes, American pole vault star Toby Stevenson competes against Sergey Bubka, his idol and world record holder.

In tandem, they race down the runway and fling themselves over bars more than 19 feet above the ground.

That's some Olympian feat, considering that Bubka is retired.

Actually, these head-to-head duels play out on a computer screen, superimposed in digital video overlay. It's part of the latest way USA Track and Field is preparing its runners, jumpers and throwers for Athens.

Since October, USATF has been using a software program called Dartfish to help athletes evaluate their performance through real-time digital video analysis.

..."It's a big reason for my success," Stevenson said. "I jump, and between every jump I watch my jump, and after practice I watch every jump on Dartfish."

Stevenson can look at a jump in real time, quarter time, half time or frame-by-frame. He can compare up to four different jumps at once, or have two jumps overlaid to see how consistent he is.

Or he can vault versus Bubka. The technicians who run the DV program converted analog video of Bubka to digital with a few extra steps outside of Dartfish, which grew out of a Swiss company in 1998 with early success in ski racing broadcasting.

"Obviously it's not Dartfish alone, but yeah, I increased my PR (personal record) 10 inches this year," Stevenson said. "I've got the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 jumps in the world right now."