Steve Hooker Claims Gold for Australia

West Australian pole vaulter Steve Hooker has broken history in Beijing, becoming the first Australian male athlete to win a track and field gold medal in 40 years as he cleared 5.96m to claim gold and the Olympic record on Friday night.

Hooker’s sterling performance in the face of incredible pressure at the Birds Nest has seen WA’s medal tally jump to two gold, three silver and four bronze.

The 26-year old showed nerves of steel in the Olympic final, four times facing the prospect of being knocked out before clearing heights on his third and final attempts.

In the end it was Russian Evgeny Lukyanenko who cracked under the pressure with the bar set at 5.90m. The gold medal favourite couldn’t clear the height on his third attempt which left Melbourne-born Hooker with the chance to secure Australia’s first gold medal in pole vaulting.

After being advised from the stands by his WAIS coach Alex Parnov to use a bigger pole for his attempt at history, Hooker calmed his nerves and soared over the bar to claim the gold medal.

“I took a moment before jumping at 5.90m and just realised that I was doing something that every kid dreams of,” the WAIS athlete told News Limited the morning after his historic triumph.

“I had my destiny in my own hands.

“Evgeny was out of the competition; if I clear that bar I am an Olympic gold medallist.

“I did think that I was the kind of person that could stand up and take that kind of opportunity.

“To have done it is a dream come true.”

Hooker went on to create another piece of history when he moved the bar to 5.96m in order to break the Olympic record set in 2004 and cleared that on his third attempt.