20.08.2009

Berlin Day 6 - Morning session - LIVE

On day six Olympic gold medallist Steve Hooker gets his chance to win a second global title when he takes to the pit in the qualification round of the men's pole vault.

The West Australian Institute of Sport vaulter will jump in group A alongside Derek Miles (USA), the winner of the World Athletics Final last year, and second-string Frenchman Romain Mesnil.

Hooker was riding a nine-meet winning streak after his Olympic win until France's Renaud Lavillenie scalped the Australian on home turf in Reims back in July. The 22-year-old Frenchman, who jumps in group B today, burst into prominence just three weeks earlier when he joined Hooker in the six-metre club with a leap of 6.02m at the European Teams Championships in Leira, Portugal.

Defending champion Brad Walker (USA) also goes in that group and comes with a season's best of 5.80m, recorded when finishing second in Monaco in July.

The two groups are finalising preparations with some warm-up jumps but not Hooker. The Olympic champion suffered an adductor tear last week and in the race to be healthy for today's qualification will leave his run right down to the wire.

Preferring not to aggravate the injury further Hooker will make his first attempt at 5.65m without any warm-up jumps. Out at the warm-up track this morning he went through some stretches and jogging but there was no pole in sight.

5.75m will be needed to automatically qualify but in Osaka two years ago 5.65m was sufficient for the top 12, which included Hooker, to progress to the final. Only requiring one jump would please Hooker today.

This will be Hooker's third world champs, but in the four years since he bowed out of the qualifying rounds in Helsinki with a mere 5.45m he has gone on to become the world's best vaulter. On February 7 this year he cleared 6.06m at the Boston Indoor Games to become the second highest vaulter of all time.

The bar is at 5.25m so it will be a while before Hooker makes his attempt. There was a slight panic for the Australian supporters as he left the competition area but he's back now. Obviously just a comfort break for the Australian Flame athlete.

His new nemesis Lavillenie is getting ready to take his attempt with the bar now at 5.40m. Over easily. Maybe 'nemesis' is a little premature since the two have only met on five occasions and only this year would the Frenchman have registered on Hooker's radar.

Missing in action in the qualifying round is reigning champion Brad Walker (USA). He was out on the warm-up track this morning but a pelvis injury sustained in Monaco in July means the American misses his chance to become the second athlete to win consecutive titles.

Not that there have been many chances for anyone else, other than the six-time world champion Sergei Bubka, to defend.

Australian Dmitri Markov got close in 2003 when placing fourth to Guiseppe Gibilisco from Italy with a vault of 5.85m. Back in Edmonton in 2001 the Belarus-born Markov jumped the then second-highest bar of all time, and arguably the performance of the championships, with 6.05m.

Back to the competition and helmet-clad Toby Stevenson, who was down under in the 2007 Australian season, is up and over at 5.40m as Hooker jogs up and down on the grass infield waiting for his chance.

Another notable absentee is Russia's Evgeny Lukyanenko, who withdrew last month with an illness that will require surgery on his lymph nodes. That means both minor medallists from Beijing are out with the withdrawal of the Olympic bronze medallist, Ukraine's Denys Yurchenko.

Hooker is the last in jumping order in group A as the bar is up to 5.55m and former Australian representative Viktor Chistiakov, now competing again for his native Russia, finds that height no trouble and is clear on his first attempt.

Stevenson, the 2004 Olympic silver medallist, is having trouble at 5.55m and misses on his second attempt, as Hooker checks in with coach Alex Parnov.

Parnov is joined in the stands by team leader Eric Hollingsworth, team doctor Adam Castricum, team manager Nathan Sims, personal physiotherapist Shane Kelly and Ray and Denise Boyd. Ray, of course, is no stranger to the vault, winning the event at the Commonwealth Games in 1982.

Hooker now grabs his pole and does a run-through near the 4x400m start.

The cameras hover around Hooker while he tapes his pole. The next-to-last jumper in Hooker's group, Yoo Suk Kim (Korea) is up and over at 5.55m so the bar will soon be raised to 5.65m, where Hooker will make his appearance.

Lavillenie is the first jumper to attempt 5.65m and he has plenty of space between him and the bar and sails cleanly over.

No other vaulter is coming into the competition as late as Hooker but then again, there's probably no one else in the field riding that razor's edge where any unnecessary jumping could end their campaign.

Hooker does a pole-less run-through and is now sitting next to the pit doing some stretches. There are only two vaulters left to jump before the Australian has a go.

Pavlov the Russian misses and now it's only Kim (Korea) to go, as Hooker goes through some rehearsals.

Kim misses and Hooker prepares to go. He sails over easily but appears in a lot of pain as he lands in the pit. Hooker is grabbing his right hamstring and his right adductor. Hopefully he won't have to jump again, but the Australian is clearly in trouble as he calls for medical support.

Medical support now comes to Hooker's assistance and applies ice to his adductor/hamstring. The Australian support crew look on helplessly as they are unable to enter the competition arena. The camera crew and photographers get up close and personal as an Olympic champion in trouble is big news.

He seems in good spirits though as he chats to Lavillenie and waits in the in-field. There are now seven over at 5.65m and with 12 to progress the bar may not have to be raised to the automatic qualifying height of 5.75m. Regardless, it's doubtful that Hooker will jump again this morning.

And that's confirmed as Hooker starts packing up his poles with nine vaulters clear at 5.65m.

Yoo Suk Kim takes the final vault of this morning's qualification and it's a bad one as the Korean bails out with a calf cramp. That leaves Hooker and 10 other vaulters with 5.65m and several more on 5.55m. We'll wait for the official word on how many progress but the Australian is off to get some treatment.

Officials have now confirmed that 15 vaulters are through to the final.

Competition continues this morning with the second day of the men's decathlon. Tonight's session will see the first appearance of Mitchell Watt and Fabrice Lapierre, who have a real shot at medals in the men's long jump. First they will have to negotiate the qualification. 8.15m is the automatic qualification distance.

Hooker confirmed the seriousness of the injury after the qualification round.

"I didn't have more than one than one jump in me so I had to make it a good one," he said.

"I knew straight away that I had to shut it down to give myself any chance of competing in two days. Hopefully I can, but I think things have to go well."

He will employ a similar strategy on Saturday when the title will be decided.

"Definitely it's not going to be an option for me to do any warm-up jumps. I think if I do a warm-up jump and then have wait an hour to start competition it's not good for me."