Australia on verge of pole vault domination

[Bubba PV]

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0 ... 01,00.html

Glen Foreman

December 13, 2008 04:00pm
Never in history has Australia stood on the brink of such domination of a track and field discipline as it does now.

And the country's path to success can be followed back to WA.

Pole vault and Australia became synonymous to many this year with Steve Hooker's Olympic Record jump for gold at Beijing.

But the world was gravely mistaken if it thought the Aussies' success leapt to its peak with Hooker.
In the next four years, Australia is set to unleash a depth of pole vault talent that is expected to produce a massive medal haul in London.

Look at it this way - Russian Sergey Bubka dominated pole vault for a decade and still holds the world record of 6.14m. American vaulter Jeff Hartwig was competing at world level this year at 40-years-old.

WA Institute of Sport (WAIS) athletes Paul Burgess and Hooker were ranked No.1 and No.2 in the world in 2006. Both are still in their 20s.

Victorian Blake Lucas, 18, increased his personal best by 30cm to take the vault at the Commonwealth Youth Games in India this year.

Alana Boyd, 24, is already an Olympian after heading to Beijing in August.

WA's Vicki Parnov is already competing at senior events at 18 and jumped an Olympic B-Qualifier in March. Her sister Liz, 14, is hot on her heels with a 4.05m PB - only 35cm off her older sibling.

But behind every great athlete is a great coach - and sometimes there's more than one.

Victoria's Mark Stewart has rapidly gained the reputation as being one of the best development coaches Australian pole vault has seen.

And WAIS's Alex Parnov, father of Vicki and Liz, is arguably the sport's greatest head coach in the world.

What this means is that at both London and the 2016 Olympics, Australia will have the potential to hit new heights by claiming gold, silver and bronze in both the men's and women's pole vault.

It is a feat that the nation has never even had a small chance of achieving - let alone a genuine one.

And it's largely thanks to pole vault's home - WA.

[altius]

Typical media bulldust I am afraid! They dont know the facts and never bother to check the fairy stories they are going to write. Steve's performance was one of the greatest in the history of the vault, with 4 third attempt clearances, but there is no guarantee that he can repeat unless Alex does get his technique completely sorted. The Parnov girls are going to be very good but I doubt they will have the physical abilities needed to compete with Izzy or Jen.

[Andy_C]

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,24795322-5005401,00.html

What this means is that at both London and the 2016 Olympics, Australia will have the potential to hit new heights by claiming gold, silver and bronze in both the men's and women's pole vault.

It is a feat that the nation has never even had a small chance of achieving - let alone a genuine one.

And it's largely thanks to pole vault's home - WA.

I think this guy is getting a little too excited, probably just pumping up the locals over in Perth. He should also look back at some of the history of Aussie pole vault and he'll discover that there were a lot of exceptional vaulters with many "genuine chances" of taking medals in international competitions, including the Olympics. There is tremendous potential for the future here because of the fantastic coaching, the talented upcoming generation and the growing popularity but let's not go overboard by saying the country is on "the verge of pole vault domination".

From a more 'down to Earth' point of view, I can say that there has been a tremendous beginners-boom here in Sydney. Our fledgling club alone has probably quadroupled in size in the past 4 months or so. Mind you, there were only 4 of us back then. Also, with the exception of Mandi and Zsuzsa, we're all just beginners right now but the trend of increasing interest is very encouraging. I'm probably seeing a new face every 2-3 weeks and the club has been attracting a lot of youngsters (13-16 year olds) in particular. All very encouraging things for the future.

By the way, Altius, how was Perth this week? I haven't had a chance to talk to Zsuzsa yet but I heard you guys had a little competition going on!

[VTechVaulter]

Does anyone know about where steve hookers take off is?

Derek Miles was telling me at the Olympics Hooker had mids outside of 61ft!!! (18.6m)