Hooker Heroics Secure World Title in Berlin
Western Australian Institute of Sport pole vaulter Steve Hooker has added to his burgeoning resume overnight, overcoming a serious injury to win gold in the pole vault at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in
Jumping only twice in the final following a pain killing injection to his injured adductor, the Olympic champion narrowly missed a clearance at 5.85m before electing to move the bar up to 5.90m. In an incredible display Hooker soared over on his first attempt to move into the lead. Frenchmen Romain Mesnil and Renaud Lavillenie failed on their attempts at 5.90m before moving up to 5.95m, a height they couldn’t clear which saw the WAIS jumper secure the World Title.
Hooker becomes the second WAIS athlete to win the pole vault title at the World Championships, following Dimitri Markov’s victory at the 2001 titles in
After the incredible performance an emotional Australian Flame Captain told Athletics Australia that the win was the ultimate conclusion to a challenging few weeks.
“It’s just weird, it’s very difficult to explain,” he said.
“It’s a mental battle you have to fight with yourself and you have to convince yourself that you’re ready; you’re ready to pick up the massive competition pole that’s going to throw you nearly six metres in the air. “You’ve got to convince yourself that you’re ready to do an impressive jump with the stands very close in and you’ve got to be prepared to take that risk and lucky for me I knew prior to this injury I’d done such fantastic training and what great shape I was in.
“There was one specific training session, the one before I got hurt, where on the pole I jumped on today I jumped a 5.90m-high bar and I knew I had it in me so I could go out there with confidence that that was the right pole, I had the right run-up and if I could just get down the runway it would be enough.”
Following the qualification on Thursday Hooker wasn’t confident of being able to line up for the final, with the call to compete going right down to the wire.
“Honestly, early on I thought there was no way I was going to jump, my hip was very sore,” Hooker said.
“I went in and got a little jab from the doctor when the boys were jumping at 5.65m and when that kicked in I thought maybe I was a chance at jumping.
“It’s been a very, very challenging couple of weeks, I’ve tried to be as honest as possible with everyone through that process. You’ve all been through that journey with me and it’s probably seemed like a rollercoaster to you but believe me, it’s been 10 times as bad from my perspective.
“Every day was a question of whether or not I’d jump and going to sleep at night wasn’t the easiest thing, I’ve been sleeping like hell but good people around me have helped me make smart decisions and that’s what got me through.”
Hooker said the drama of the past 10 days would hold him in good stead for the future, providing the confidence to perform no matter how dire the situation may appear.
“I think I’ve proven something to myself by this working out the way it has,” the new World Champion said.
“I know I’ve got a lot more in me and I know if I can do jumps like this under these circumstances then when I’m healthy, when I’ve got good conditions, massive jumps are not out of the question and I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do in the next year.”
The pole vault world title is the third world title won by a WAIS athlete in 2009 following on from cyclists Cameron Meyer and Josie Tomic who won the points race and omnium world titles respectively at the World Track Cycling Championships in March.