Telstra-A Series (Melbourne)

[pelle3]

Women Pole Vault Open

1, Kym Howe, WAIS, 4.50m
2, Tatiana Grigorieva, QAS, 4.30m
3, Stephanie McCann, CAN, 4.20m
4, Vicky Parnov, WAIS, J4.20m
5, Melina Hamilton, NZL, J4.20m
6, Samsu Roslinda, MAS, 4.10m
7, Ellie Spain, ENG, 3.85m.
--, Kelsie Hendry, CAN, NH.

Men Pole Vault Open

1, Steve Hooker, VIS, 5.60m
2, Steven Lewis, ENG, 5.50m [=9AT U.K.]
3, Dmitri Markov, SASI, 5.50m
4, Nick Buckfield, ENG, 5.35m
--, Matt Boyd, QAS, NH.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common ... 22,00.html

In the men's pole vault, Victorian Steve Hooker beat Australian teammate Dmitri Markov with a jump of 5.60m.

In gusty conditions, Hooker experimented with the larger pole he will use in the Games.

"I'm feeling good, I was a bit disappointed because I jumped 5.80m in the warm-up," Hooker said.

"But overall I feel in great shape. I was using a larger pole that I'll need to use in the Commonwealth Games to be competitive and I have the confidence now to use it."

Australia's leading men's pole-vault chance, Paul Burgess, sat out last night's meeting with calf problem.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,86 ... 18,00.html

Pole vaulters get a grip
By Chip Le Grand and Jenny McAsey
March 10, 2006

UNDER the circumstances, Games organisers would have been relieved to see pole vault medal prospects Steve Hooker and Dmitri Markov negotiate their final tune-ups safely last night, if not particularly spectacularly at Melbourne's Olympic Park.

At a meet when a gusty wind played havoc with Markov's run-up and Hooker came to grips with an unfamiliar pole, the latter's season-best leap of 5.91m set six days earlier appeared in no threat of falling.

Hooker won the event at 5.60m while Markov's highest clearance was at 5.50m, 55cm below his personal best.

The reaction of the two athletes could not be more different however, as Hooker heads into the Games with a spring in his step and Markov a pain in his foot.

Markov is still recovering from foot surgery and has been severely restricted in the lead-up to the Games.

Last night, after missing on three attempts at a height he once considered a doddle, he admitted that his prospects in Melbourne would depend largely on how his foot felt.

"I am still not 100 per cent fit but I will try to be ready for the Commonwealth Games," Markov said.

"I still am a little bit sore in my foot after surgery and didn't get enough jumps in training and competition."

Markov's only consolation is that there are few athletes in the Commonwealth capable of challenging Australia's pole-vaulting trio for a medal.


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The best performed visiting athlete last night was Britain's Steven Lewis, who cleared 5.50m.
Paul Burgess, who watched the event from his home in Perth, was the only athlete in the world to vault 6m last year and Hooker is fast closing in on that mark.

Hooker took three attempts at the course record of 5.81m and appeared to have ample height, though not the timing required, on two of them.

To prepare himself for bigger heights, Hooker trialled a longer pole than he normally uses.

"I jumped on the biggest pole that I have used so far," he said.

"It is probably the pole I am going to need to use at the Games so it was good to break it in and I can use it and be confident on it. Now that I have got the cobwebs out of it I should be fine."