A gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games placed pole-vaulter Steve Hooker in rarefied territory. By winning gold in Delhi, Hooker became the only athlete on the planet to currently hold the Olympic, world outdoor, world indoor, Continental and Commonwealth titles. Although Hooker’s effort of 5.60 metres was good enough to claim gold on a countback from England’s Steve Lewis, the mark was still a far cry from his personal best and Australian record of 6.06 set in Boston last year. In clearing 6.06, Hooker became the second highest pole-vaulter in history behind only the legendary Sergey Bubka (6.15). But Hooker was still not satisfied and set the bar to what would have been a world record 6.16. Although Hooker failed in his three attempts to beat Bubka’s record, he has made no secret of his ambition to break the 6.15 mark. By winning gold in Beijing in 2008 with a new Olympic record jump of 5.96, Hooker became the first Australian track and field gold medallist in 40 years since Ralph Doubell won the 800 metres in Mexico City in 1968. Hooker then went on to win gold at the 2009 World Athletics championships in Berlin with a jump of 5.90. The fact that Hooker was still able to record such a height while suffering from a groin injury made the effort even more impressive. After a gruelling 10-month period of competition and travel, Hooker plans for a much quieter 2011 with the defence of his World Championship gold his top priority.
Ben Asgari
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