28.01.2009

Hooker, McLellan on track for '09

Steve Hooker and Sally McLellan may have been laying low since their stellar Olympic feats of last year but there’s no doubt the pair is set for one hell of a return to the track this domestic season.

The duo flew to New York on Monday to kick-start their 2009 campaigns, and for Hooker, the return to competition can’t come soon enough.

“I compete on Friday night in New York and it’s my first competition since Beijing so really it’s a matter of getting back into the swing of competing,” the pole vault champion said.

“I feel like I’m in pretty good shape so I could get some good results but it’s going to be hard to tell, it’s five months since I’ve competed so I’m just looking forward to getting back into it.”

Despite his world-beating efforts at the Beijing Games, Hooker is fully focused on fine-tuning his performance ahead of the Australian domestic season and later, the World Championships.

While he enters the Australian season as reigning Olympic champ, Hooker knows the event is so hotly contested he’ll need to be at the height of his game every step of the way if he’s to claim the world title in August.

“I’ve still got a lot of things I’m working on improving in terms of the way I’m jumping,” he said.

“I think over the last year there have been three guys that have been a bit ahead of the pack and I think that’s going to remain the case.

“There’s always going to be a lot of competition at the top end of the pole vault, that’s just where the event’s at at the moment, so you never feel like you’re streets ahead, you’re always working to stay up there with the other guys and just trying to keep your nose in front.”

Hooker will be especially wary of 2008 nemesis Yevgeniy Lukyanenko, who was this week named as one of a host of international stars heading to Australian shores to contest the domestic season.

“(Yevgeniy and I) had a big year last year, we competed against each other four times and he beat me three times,” Hooker said.

“I reckon I beat him when it mattered most which is good, but we both have something to prove. I want to have a few more wins against him this year than I had last year but he probably wants to take back a bit of pride from what happened at the Olympics, so it’s going to be really competitive here in Australia.

“My main focus will be the Melbourne meet, I’ve won that for the last four years and I’ve won that against world champions and a bunch of six-metre guys, so it’s always been stiff competition but I’ve always performed really well.”

For fellow Olympic trailblazer McLellan, the eve of the domestic season is an exciting time.

“I had six weeks off after the Olympics and that was really nice just to relax mentally and physically from training and competing so much but I was really looking forward to getting back into training because I was feeling really unfit and just needed to get strong again for this season,” the hurdles specialist said.

While she enters the upcoming season full of hope and expectation, it’s not gold medal glory that’s top of mind for McLellan.

For the Gold Coast local and Beijing star, it’s simply being there to line up alongside the world's best that will be her focus for the year ahead.

“I’ve made a pact with my coach that we’ll make the final every single year at every international meet so if I don’t get injured that should happen and obviously when you make the final in an event, anything can happen.

“Of course you always want to win, you go into every single race wanting to win and you just have to do the best you can every time you race and if making the final is all I can do I’ll be happy because I said that was my goal.”

Hooker and McLellan will return from overseas competition to contest the Sydney Track Classic on Saturday, February 28 at Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre.