Hooker Leaps Towards World Record

Western Australian Institute of Sport pole vaulter Steve Hooker came within a breath of breaking Sergei Bubka’s 16 year old world indoor record whilst claiming the title at the Millrose Games in New York over the weekend.

Hooker cleared 6.01m at Madison Square Garden to set a new personal best and secure first place at the historic meet, before setting the bar at 6.16m to try and break the great Bubka’s record. He failed three times at the mark although on the final two the 26-year old was just shy of clearing the bar.

“To come out here and jump a personal best was a bit of a surprise,” Hooker told AFP after the meet.

“All three of those (world record tries) were pretty good, and the last two I thought I came pretty close,

“Any little thing tonight could have made the difference. Just few little adjustments and I might have gotten over. A stiffer vaulting pole might have helped, too.”

The meet in New York was Hooker’s first since winning the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and was achieved despite limited preparation due to a bruised knee suffered whilst training.

“This was a little unexpected,” he said to AAP.

“I’ve had a really interrupted preparation. About four weeks ago I broke a pole while I was jumping and it hit my knee, and I haven’t vaulted since then.”

Hooker’s WAIS teammates had a mixed meet, with Paul Burgess no heighting in the men’s competition whilst Vicky Parnov claimed third place in the women’s competition with a jump of 4.08m.

The squad next moves to Boston for the Reebok Boston Indoor Games, where Hooker is again set to compete, before crossing the Atlantic for a series of meets in Europe, including Sergei Bubka’s signature invitational meet in the Ukraine.