Hooker Ready for Diamond League Debut

Reigning world, Olympic, world indoor and Commonwealth Games champion Steve Hooker will this weekend launch his IAAF Diamond League campaign as the undisputed star of world pole vault takes his 2010 campaign on the road.

Joining WAIS scholarship holder in Round two of the all-new Diamond League series in Shanghai (CHN) on Sunday night will be Australian and world indoor champion Fabrice Lapierre and former world youth champion Chris Noffke in the men’s long jump, national one-lap champion Ben Offereins (WAIS) in the men’s 400m, and fellow Commonwealth Games nominees Jeremy Roff (1500m) and Eloise Wellings (5000m).

Last night, Australian Flame athlete Madeleine Pape (third, 800m) and fellow Victorian Kaila McKnight (second, 1500m) secured podium finishes at the Daegu Pre-Championships Meeting in Daegu, South Korea, home of the 2011 IAAF world championships in athletics.

Also in action in Daegu were WAIS Delhi-bound athletes Jody Henry (fifth, 200m), Alana Boyd (sixth, pole vault) and Amanda Bisk (seventh, pole vault), and Commonwealth Games hopefuls Katherine Katsanevakis (fifth, 800m), Bridey Delaney (sixth, 1500m) and Richard Everest (11th, 3000m steeplechase).

For full results from last night’s Daegu Pre-Championships Meeting, click here.

Athlete updates will be circulated weekly in the lead-up to the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, in October. Athletes listed in italics have secured nomination for selection to the Australian Flame team bound for Delhi.

May 23: IAAF Diamond League – Shanghai, CHN
400m: Ben Offereins (24, WA)
1500m: Jeremy Roff (26, NSW)
5000m: Eloise Wellings (27, NSW)
Pole vault: Steve Hooker (27, WA)
Long jump: Fabrice Lapierre (26, NSW), Chris Noffke (22, Qld)

– Athletics Australia