WAIS Vaulters Part of Strong Australian Jumps Division
With the IAAF Athletics World Championships starting this Saturday in Daegu, Korea, two WAIS athletes will form part of Australia’s much fancied jumps department.
Reigning world title holder Steve Hooker and two-time national champion Alana Boyd will don the green and gold in the men’s and women’s pole vault events respectively.
Hooker is Australian Flame captain, the current Olympic, world, world indoor, Commonwealth and Continental Cup champion and will compete at the IAAF world championships for the fourth time in Daegu.
Boyd will compete after improving her career best mark to 4.60m earlier this year and after winning her maiden major international title on last appearance with the Australian Flame at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Dual WAIS Athlete of the Year Steve Hooker will begin his title defence on Saturday 27, with the men’s final scheduled for Monday 29, whilst Boyd will enter qualifying on Sunday 28 with women’s finals listed for Tuesday 30.
World lead Mitchell Watt will be joined by Commonwealth champion Fabrice Lapierre and world junior champion Robbie Crowther on the runway for the men’s long jump at the IAAF world championships as the trio combine to be arguably Australia’s strongest event in Daegu (KOR).
Watt’s season has been almost flawless with a dominant victory in the jumps category on the Australian Athletics Tour, a then world lead to win his first national long jump crown and automatic selection in April, an unbeaten record on theSamsung Diamond League and a new Australian record of 8.54m.
Lapierre is the current world indoor long jump champion, boasts a personal best of 8.40m and a season best of 8.02m, while Crowther has consistently soared beyond eight metres in 2011, falling short only once since heading to Europe in early July.
“Our long jumps ranks today are the product of the success of the event across more than a decade,” Gary Bourne, Watt’s coach, said.
“We had people like Jai Taurima come out of Sydney and their performance established a national jumps program with fantastic resources and great coaches that have developed the athletes we see here at worlds today.”
“Mitch is quietly confident and rightly so. His heel isn’t causing him any issues, he jumped on it in Stockholm and London without any troubles, and here [Daegu] he has been training at full capacity.
“A jump of 8.60m will be needed to win here I think and I know he can do that.
“Robbie has been so consistent and another eight metre performance will get him into the final no worries. Fabrice and I caught up in Cologne and he has been battling a few niggles this year, but he headed back to his U.S base in pretty good shape and will arrive here ready to jump big this Sunday.
“I’m hoping for three Australians in that final 12, I honestly think we can win two medals here.”
-Athletics Australia