She may not be the “queen of the pole vault” at the 2012 Olympic Games… But Yarisley Silva came thisclose to earning that title at the London Games.

Competing in her second Olympics, the 25-year-old Cuban pole vaulter cleared 4.75 meters in front of an Olympic Stadium crowd of 80,000 on her second attempt to match the successful attempt by Jenn Suhr of the United States.

Despite ending tied at the top of the leader board, Silva had to settle for the silver medal because Suhr successfully cleared the mark in her first attempt.

But Silva’s surprise silver is a vast improvement from her previous performance at the 2008 Olumpic Games, where she ended in 27th place.

World record holder Yelena Isinbaeva of Russia, who had won the gold at the last two Olympics, had to settle for the bronze this time around, since she could not go over 4.70 meters.