16.03.2010

Hooker on home soil after world indoor win

Hot on the heels of his world indoor championships win in Doha, Qatar, at the weekend, pole vault star Steve Hooker has touched down in his hometown with the latest addition to his impressive career resume safely secured around his neck.

The 27-year-old blitzed the competition at the IAAF world indoor titles, taking out the gold medal with a sky-high leap of 6.01m to eclipse Russian world record-holder Sergey Bubka’s championship record and snatch victory over his rivals by a massive 31cm, the largest margin in the history of the world and world indoor championships.

In taking out the title Hooker became the first Australian in history to win all four major international championships, with wins at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, 2009 IAAF world championships and 2010 IAAF world indoor championships now under his belt.
 
In addition, Hooker becomes the only athlete worldwide to currently hold all four major global athletics titles – Olympic, world, World Cup and world indoor championships.

The Western Australian-based vaulter is amassing a resume that is the envy of athletes around the globe, with his Olympic, Commonwealth and world indoor championships victories all coming with meet record leaps.

Stepping out at Melbourne Olympic Park today, Hooker said he would now look to the rest of the year freed from the pressure of snaring the one medal that was missing from his collection.

“I was putting a lot of pressure on myself for (the world indoor) competition, especially not having won it before but I think it will mean for the rest of the year I can be pretty relaxed about everything and can really enjoy the rest of this year, just enjoy getting out there at every competition and competing without that big overall goal hanging over me,” Hooker said.

Hooker’s achievements highlight not only the skill and determination of the Victorian-born star, but the talent and dedication of his coach, Alex Parnov.

As a coach Parnov has now steered athletes to gold at the Olympic Games (Hooker), world championships (Hooker, Dmitri Markov), Commonwealth Games (Hooker, Kym Howe) and world indoor championships (Hooker).

In Doha Hooker led the Australian team to its best ever performance at a world indoor championships, the team of five bringing home three medals to place fifth on the overall medal tally.

Hooker was joined on the dais at the Aspire Dome by New South Welshman Fabrice Lapierre (gold - long jump) and Queenslander Mitchell Watt (bronze - long jump), as fellow team members Scott Martin (eight - shot put) and Petrina Price (qualifying - high jump) joined the medal-winners in flying the flag for Australia.

The nation’s best ever result at a world indoor titles follows its best ever showing at a world championships in Berlin last August, where the inaugural Australian Flame outfit claimed two gold (Hooker – pole vault, Dani Samuels – discus throw) and two bronze medals (Watt – long jump, men’s 4x400m relay).

Just hours after touching down on Australian soil Hooker today announced he will line up in the prestigious Stawell Gift at Easter, where he will be out to snag the $40,000 winner’s cheque in the handicapped sprint.
 
“It’s a fantastic weekend. I have been up there many times before as a spectator and it’s always been dream to run there. With my big global championship out of the way already this year it’s an opportunity where I go there for a bit of a different preparation,” Hooker said.

Due to his pole vault commitments Hooker has raced sparingly over 100m, his latest outing producing a personal best time of 10.82 in Perth in early January in a race won by Australian 100m record-holder Patrick Johnson in 10.36. Hooker’s previous 100m outings date back to 2005, when the high-flier recorded a wind assisted 10.68 (+3.2) also in Perth.

The inaugural captain of the Australian Flame will return his attention to the pole vault in time for the Go for 2&5 88th Australian Athletics Championships and Commonwealth Games selection trials in Perth from April 16-18, where he will be out to break the world record height of 6.14m and claim the $100,000 cash bounty on offer should he overtake Bubka’s mark.

“It’s something that I’m always working towards and always measuring myself against and I felt like at the world (indoor) championships I gave it a really, really good go,” Hooker said.

“I felt like my jumps at 6.01m, had I done them at 6.16m, (the world record) could have been there, so I’ve just got to make sure when the bar gets up to that height I maintain my consistency and my form.”

Later in the year Hooker will take on the all-new IAAF Diamond League series that will see him line up in competitions in Shanghai (May 23), Oslo  (June 4), New York (June 12), Lausanne (July 7), Paris (July 16), London (August 13) and Brussels (August 27).

Athletics Australia congratulates Steve Hooker and Alex Parnov on their latest world pole vault win.