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http://au.sports.yahoo.com/070901/2/1dn6y.html

Hooker bombs out in pole vault
Saturday September 1, 11:09 PM


Leading Australian medal hope Steven Hooker finished a disappointing ninth in the men's pole vault at the world athletics championships .

Hooker's only two successful clearances came at 5.51m and 5.76m.

The Victorian then passed at 5.81m, had two failed attempts at 5.86m and missed again with his last remaining vault at 5.91m.

The gold medal went to American Brad Walker on a countback from France's Romain Mesnil after both had cleared 5.86m.

Walker competed in the summer season in Australia, setting the best height in the world this year of 5.95m while competing as a guest athlete at the national championships in Brisbane.

Danny Ecker of Germany was third with 5.81m.

Hooker topped the 2006 world rankings after his best-ever season, including gold at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and the World Cup.

The other highly-rated Australian vaulter, Paul Burgess, bowed out in Thursday's qualifying round.

The 25-year-old Hooker - who boasts a personal best of 5.96m set last year in Berlin - has an impeccable sporting pedigree.

His mother Erica Nixon was a nine-time Australian long jump champion who finished second at the 1978 Commonwealth Games and his father Bill Hooker won four national titles and represented Australia at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in the 800m and 4x400m relay.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070901/ts ... 0901161036

Walker wins first pole vault title for USA
7 minutes ago
OSAKA, Japan (AFP) - Brad Walker brought the United States their first world pole-vault title here Saturday by a modest clearance of 5.86 metres, in the absence of compatriot Olympic champion Tim Mack.


Walker, second at the last championships in 2005, cleared the level on his first attempt while French veteran Romain Mesnil needed two attempts to do so and settled for the silver.

Germany's Danny Ecker, the 2007 European indoor champion, took the bronze with a clearance of 5.81m.

The 26-year-old Walker squandered all his three attempts at 5.91, below his season's best of 5.95 and his all-time high of 6.00.

"First attempts are always a huge deal in the finals. If you can make it that also puts a lot of pressure on the other competitors," said Walker.

"Of course I was not sure as other guys tried for 5.91m, they had great jumps and they were capable to do it.

"To win is a good deal of motivation for future. I want to continue in this and am ready to do more work."

Walker, a 188-centimetre-tall avid skier and snowboarder, also has the 2006 world indoor title to his name.

For 30-year-old Mesnil, the 2006 European silver medallist, it was his best ever result. A gymnast in his teens, he was fifth at the 2001 world championships.

Ecker's 5.81m fell short of his personal best of 5.93 set in 1998 by the 30-year-old son of Heide Rosendahl, the 1972 Olympic long jump and 4x100m relay champion.

The competition was generally sub-standard with just 10 of the 31 entrants managing to clear 5.70 in the preliminary round, five centimetres short of the automatic qualifying height.

http://osaka2007.iaaf.org/news/kind=2/newsid=41306.html

Walker takes first U.S. men’s Pole Vault gold
The men’s Pole Vault didn’t reach quite the heights of former competitions, either in drama or in distance. Brad Walker of the USA had a first-time failure at 5.76m, but then moved directly to 5.81m which he cleared with his first attempt, as he did 5.86m. That was going to prove enough for victory. Romain Mesnil of France also only took eight jumps, but his failure came first time at the winning height. His clearance next time assured silver, while Danny Ecker of Germany was the best of six vaulters at 5.81m, for the bronze.

Paul Merca
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-1 September 2007

FORMER WASHINGTON HUSKY BRAD WALKER WINS WORLD POLE VAULT TITLE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-1 September 2007


OSAKA, Japan-Former University of Washington standout Brad Walker's gamble to pass at 18-10 3/4 after a first attempt miss paid dividends, as Walker won his first outdoor world championship Saturday under perfect jumping conditions clearing 19-2 3/4 before a packed house at Nagai Stadium.

Walker's victory in this event marked the first time that an American male emerged victorious in this event at the IAAF World Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Additionally, Walker, whose win matches the world indoor title he won in Moscow last year, joins 1500 meter gold medalist Bernard Lagat as the second Washington state-affiliated athlete at these world championships to earn a gold medal.

The 2005 silver medalist and 2007 world leader, who attended University High School in Spokane, Walker cleared 18-1 and 18-6.75 easily on his first attempts, but missed his first try at 18-10.75 before passing on his remaining attempts at the height.

A second- or third-attempt clearance at 18-10 3/4 would have been useless, as Steven Hooker of Australia, Yevgeniy Lukyanenko of Russia and Fabio Gomes Da Silva of Brazil all made the height on their first attempts, and several others had passed the height entirely.

The gamble to pass was successful--Walker cleared 19-0.75 on his first try, putting him back in the medal hunt. Eight men remained in the competition at 19-2.75, including three others - Danny Ecker of Germany, Igor Pavlov of Russia and Romain Mesnil of France - who cleared 19-0 3/4 on their first attempts.

Describing the decision to pass after missing 18-10 3/4, Walker said, "It was one of those good misses. I knew I had the ability to clear 5.81 (19-0 3/4), and the first attempt make at 5.81 put me back in the lead. First attempt clearances in a major championship are a huge thing, and it puts stress on the other competitors. I think the 5.86 (19-2 3/4) first attempt clearance knocked the wind out of some people's sails, and I was lucky to get that jump".

The knockout punch Walker delivered on the competition at 19-2 3/4 made him the first athlete to make the height. Mesnil was the only other vaulter to clear the height on his second attempt, but he was behind Walker based on a earlier miss at 18-6 3/4, which ultimately proved the difference between the gold and silver medals.


Six men took attempts at 19-4.75, and while a few came close, none prevailed, giving Walker his first gold medal. Mesnil took second and Ecker was third at 19-0.75.

In an interview on Friday, Walker revealed that he had not touched a pole, and was unable to train properly between his last competition in Monte Carlo on July 25th, and Thursday's qualifying round of the pole vault, due to a lingering problem with two bulging discs in his back.

"I was gassed, and I had to dig pretty deep because my prep going into this meet wasn't exactly the way I would've liked it. I haven't lifted weights, and I'm a lot lighter than what I normally am. I have a couple of bulged discs, and it's been giving me a lot of pain, and I've had to back off the training," Walker said after the event.

Walker, who continues to train in Seattle at the Dempsey Indoor at the University of Washington, and helps the Huskies as a volunteer assistant coach, gave a lot of credit to his support crew in attendance in Osaka, including Husky jumps coach Pat Licari, agent Peter Stubbs, his girlfriend and former UW pole vaulter Carly Dockendorf, parents Diana & Thomas, and sister Tanya. 

Walker sported a Mohawk haircut Saturday night, along with two zig-zagged lines made to look like a lightning bolt on the side of his head, thanks to the work of fellow American vaulter Jacob Pauli, who didn't qualify for the finals.

"I have a really good record of jumping well after a haircut. We thought a lot of speedy lines would add some pizzazz. (The Mohawk) can be anything you want it to be", he said.

The final athlete competing with ties to the state of Washington competing will be Bernard Lagat in the men's 5000 meters on Sunday. That event is scheduled to get underway at 7:30 pm, Osaka time (11:30 pm Saturday night in Seattle). Lagat has already claimed a world title at 1500 meters earlier in the meet.

For more information on the IAAF World Track & Field Championships, please visit http://www.osaka2007.iaaf.org.

For more information on Washington state-affiliated athletes competing at the world championships in Osaka, please visit http://paulmerca.blogspot.com.

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http://paulmerca.blogspot.com

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics ... 3674_x.htm

A cut above: American Brad Walker claims gold in pole vault
Posted 2h 21m ago | Comment | Recommend E-mail | Save | Print |
By Pat Graham, AP Sports Writer
OSAKA, Japan â€â€

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/os ... Y22003.htm

Walker thunders to 1st vault gold for U.S.
John E. Gibson / Daily Yomiuri Sportswriter

OSAKA--Sporting lighting bolts cut into the sides of his hair, American pole vaulter Brad Walker struck gold on Saturday at Nagai Stadium.

Walker gave the United States its first-ever pole vault gold medal at the IAAF world championships, clearing 5.86 meters to win in the final.

Walker, the world leader, grabbed his first gold in a major outdoor competition after having to settle for silver in Helsinki in 2005.

"I always jump well after I have a haircut," said Walker, who won because he had no misses at 5.86.

"I have no particular reason for the bolts in my hair--it just adds a lot of pizzazz."

Walker, who had to battle the decathlon participants for celebration space on the track, said the competition level was high.

"It feels phenomenal to win it," he said. "I couldn't be happier. We had eight jumpers jump 5.81, five jumpers attempt 5.86. All in all, it was a great comp."

After Walker failed on his final attempt at 5.91, he had to watch as Romain Mesnil of France and Bjorn Otto of Germany took turns jumping for the gold.

Mesnil, who cleared 5.86 to for his season's best, couldn't keep his body off the bar and settled for silver.

Otto, who had cleared 5.90 earlier this season, finished fifth when he crashed into the bar on his last jump.

Danny Ecker, one of three Germans in the final, took home the bronze.

"I started very good and I jumped everything in my first attempt, and that's important, especially in championships," Ecker said.

"With eight people over 5.81, so especially today it was important to have no misses. And I'm very happy because for Germany, it's the first medal in the world championships in the pole vault, even though we had good jumpers all those years but never really did it."

Walker said endurance played in a role in the final, which saw athletes attempt to clear six heights.

"It was one of the toughest comps I've ever been in. I was really tired at 5.91. It was a long competition and emotions ran high for a long time," he said.

But Walker put pressure on the field when he cleared 5.86 on his first attempt.

"First-jump clearances are a great thing," he said. "When I put 5.86 on the board, I think it kind of took the wind out of a lot of people's sails."

Only Walker and Germany's Tim Lobinger have personal bests of six meters, but neither could get close to clearing the bar as everyone said sayonara at 5.91.

Russia's Igor Pavlov and countryman Yevgeniy Lukyanenko both set personal bests when they cleared 5.81. Palov hit on his first attempt after passing with one miss at 5.76, while Lukyanenko hit his second attempt.

Both went out at 5.86.

Maksym Mazuryk of the Ukraine was on the verge of going out at 5.76, but also set his personal best by clearing the third height on his final attempt.

He topped his previous best by six centimeters, but dropped out of the competition at the next height (5.81).

Australian Steve Hooker, who won the IAAF World Cup last year, bowed out at 5.91.

Hooker missed twice at 5.86 before passing, and failed to reach the bar on his last attempt of the competition.

Two-time European champion Aleksandr Averbukh of Israel also crashed out at 5.91 after passing at 5.86.

(Sep. 2, 2007)