http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/c ... 5937889240Fall that nearly cost Steve Hooker Delhi glory
Nicole Jeffery From: The Australian October 13, 2010 12:00AM
AUSTRALIA'S world pole vault champion Steve Hooker nearly didn't make it to Delhi after plummeting 5m on to a road.
The fall happened when a jump went wrong in his last pre-Games competition in England.
The Australian captain was vaulting in a street competition against England in Gateshead last month when he was flung sideways from the top of an attempt at 5.40m, and hit the ground.
After winning his second Commonwealth Games gold medal with just two jumps in Delhi, Hooker revealed that he had hurt his left knee, on his take-off leg, in the frightening incident. He paid tribute to the Australian team's medical staff for getting him to the Games in shape to compete.
He won on a countback after clearing 5.60m, more than 40cm lower than his best this year, but was delighted to defend the title that began his golden run in Melbourne four years ago.
"I came here to win gold and said that whatever the height was I would be happy, so I'm happy," he said. "I blocked off my attempt at 5.70m (he ran through the mat) and felt it in my knee, which has been a bit of a problem for the last month," he said. "After Gateshead it was tough getting in this last month of training to do two jumps. To win here, I can't tell you how much it took mentally. After competing for so long (since January) your body just wants to break down. The medical guys kept me going."
With the bar at 5.70m, Hooker's only rival for the gold medal, England's Steve Lewis, was still in the competition, having cleared a season's best of 5.60m at his first attempt. But Lewis missed all three attempts at 5.70m, leaving Hooker as the champion.
He then raised the bar to 5.81m in a bid to break his own Commonwealth record from Melbourne (5.80m).
At that point he took a break to acknowledge fellow Commonwealth Games champion Sally Pearson's triumphant medal ceremony, before once again facing the bar.
However, he went only halfway down the runway before calling an end to his competition.
"(The knee) told me my season was over," he said.
Hooker said he felt as if he had just completed the never-ending season after competing almost continuously since January in a schedule that he joked "doesn't make any sense".
"I had three big events this season, probably four - world indoors, Continental Cup and Commonwealth Games - probably Diamond League is the one where I didn't achieve what I wanted," Hooker said.
"In part that's probably because I was always throughout the season having this competition in my mind, always thinking about doing enough training in between those competitions to really set myself up so I could still come here and compete."
"In the end it probably did cost me a few good performances."
As the only current athlete to hold four major international titles (Olympic, world, world indoor and Commonwealth) simultaneously, Hooker was selected as an ambassador of the Diamond League, the IAAF's new showcase series and felt obliged to support it. As the Australian captain, he also felt a duty to win for his country at the international championships.
"I feel like I have done everything for everyone this year," he admitted.
"I have been to 13 or 14 countries and got on 100 aeroplanes."
He said he would have to take a more selfish approach next year to prepare for his world title defence in Daegu, South Korea, in August.
He hopes this victory will set him up for another round of success at world titles and the London Olympics in 2012.
"This is the start of the next chapter for me," he said.