Hooker is back! 5.72 in Perth

[rainbowgirl28]

http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news ... 1yivo.html


Hooker books Olympic pole vault ticket
Justin Chadwick
May 12, 2012 - 12:29AM
Read later
AAP

Steve Hooker's dream of defending his pole vault Olympic title is back on track after the 29-year-old secured his ticket for London in a glitzy meet in Perth.

Hooker, making his first competitive outing in three months, cleared the A-qualifying height of 5.72m on his second attempt on Friday night to secure his berth at a third straight Olympics.

The West Australian high-fived the crowd and hugged his coach Alex Parnov after successfully completing the 5.72m jump, with his relief evident for all to see after a turbulent few months.

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A persistent knee injury and a worrying case of the yips had threatened to derail Hooker's Olympic campaign earlier this year.

"The confidence I require to stand at the end of the runway and then charge down, land my pole and soar almost six metres into the air has left me for the time being," Hooker said in February after announcing he would step away from all competition until he regained his mojo.

And regain his mojo he has, with Hooker easily clearing the required Olympic qualifying height in a specially-sanctioned meet held in his own purpose-built indoor training facility in Midland.

The former railway workshop was abuzz with glitz, glamour and an in-house DJ, with the invite-only crowd of around 150 people cheering on their Olympic hero.

Hooker needed two attempts to clear 5.52m, but soared over 5.62m on his first go.

With the bar then set at 5.72m, Hooker aborted his first attempt before easily clearing the mark next go.

With his confidence up, Hooker twice had a go at 5.83m, but pulled out of both attempts before calling it a night at 10.17pm local time.

"Mr Parnov, you're a genius. I'll never doubt you again," Hooker said after booking his Olympics berth.

Hooker, whose personal best of 6.06m makes him the second highest vaulter in the sport's history, will compete in the Diamond League meet in Shanghai later this month, before possibly taking in events in Rome, Munich, Oslo and Lille.

The Perth meet, which also featured Brodie Cross and Blake Lucas, was specially sanctioned by Athletics WA, meaning any height Hooker cleared would count towards Olympic qualification.

Women's pole vaulters Alana Boyd and Liz Parnov were the warm-up acts, with Boyd clearing 4.12m off a six-step run-up and Parnov posting 4.22m off eight steps.

[master]

Women's pole vaulters Alana Boyd and Liz Parnov were the warm-up acts, with Boyd clearing 4.12m off a six-step run-up and Parnov posting 4.22m off eight steps.

Were these runs 3L and 4L as is implied the way we use the word step, or were they 6L and 8L?

[Andy_C]

Women's pole vaulters Alana Boyd and Liz Parnov were the warm-up acts, with Boyd clearing 4.12m off a six-step run-up and Parnov posting 4.22m off eight steps.

Were these runs 3L and 4L as is implied the way we use the word step, or were they 6L and 8L?

It will be six and eight steps as in 3L and 4L. I wouldn't imagine they'd ever use the other terminology as I've never really seen or heard of anybody in Australia that uses it. Seems to me it's only ever in the US that the "lefts" terminology is used.

Sorry to derail the thread a bit but just out of curiosity, do American long jumpers and triple jumpers also use the same lefts terminology?

-Andrew

[ADTF Academy]

wasn't this the same facility that had a slight downhill runway?


You think a surveyor checked to see if the set up was legal?


Just a thought....... Glad he is back though will make the Olympics even more exciting.

[dj]

good morning,

i believe the runway was surveyed from the beginning to make sure it was correct by IAAF standards when it was put in...

most Long Jumpers use 20 or more steps... so they will have maximum speed to be competitive... and because they don't have to deal with the pole they use "walkins" (which i don't recommend.. because of consistancy issues) and many use "odd" numbers of steps.. 21..23 instead of 20-22.. the long jumper again is not hindered by the pole and can use "odd" numbers without hindering the balance at the start...

i hope they are monitoring his 6 step.. and keeping it within "reason" for big jumps (no stretching) he could jump a PR and take shots at the WR..

looks like he is very focused, and smart, for London

dj

[Andy_C]

They actually have multiple runways in the facility. Here's a more detailed video about the place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o2iojC7gSw

I'm quite sure the competition would be on the blue runway which has no incline/slope. Also from the video he says that the blue runway is made out of a softer material better suited for training, so he should be getting even better results on a mondo surface!

Edit: the last jump on that video looked very impressive (was probably from shorter steps too), glad to see he's in good form - should make London much more fun!

-Andrew

[rainbowgirl28]

Isn't Perth kind of like University of Texas... usually good weather and a smoking tailwind?

[RPVA03]

It's basically paradise.

[Andy_C]

Here's a video of the jump.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKPCeOYN4sc

Yeah, I think the weather in Perth is pretty awesome. Sydney has pretty good weather too, it's basically a semi-tropical San Francisco if you want comparisons (not just weather either). Melbourne is like the Bermuda Triangle of meteorology but if you can pole vault in Melbourne I think you can pole vault just about anywhere!

-Andrew

[dj]

hey

looked like 16 strides.....??

dj

[Righteous Vaulter]

Looked like 18 steps to me.
Indoors, so no tailwind.

Anyone else notice he stuck with the change and is jumping on UCS poles? Sweet.

[Andy_C]

Thought I'd share this one as well. Red Bull's promotion of Steve is nothing but incredible.

http://www.redbull.com.au/cs/Satellite/ ... 3207228641

-Andrew