Hooker Vows to Better Bubka
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Re: Hooker Vows to Better Bubka
Hooker vows to better Bubka this summer
Greg Prichard
October 30, 2009
OLYMPIC and world championship pole vault gold medallist Steve Hooker says claiming a world record is his greatest ambition - and he reckons he is ripe to do it in Australia this summer. Speaking at the announcement yesterday of nominations for The Sydney Morning Herald Sports Performer of the Year awards, presented by Colonial First State, Hooker said he felt he was ''close'' to setting a new mark.
The pole vault record is one of the most famous in track and field, being held by Ukrainian Sergey Bubka, who bettered his own mark repeatedly by advancing in one-centimetre increments - the last set at 6.14 metres in 1994.
Asked if he felt he was ready to better Bubka, Hooker, whose world championship win in Berlin in August gained him a nomination and a shot at the $50,000 prize in the main category of the awards, replied: ''I'm having a tilt at it this summer, definitely.
''I think the most important thing for me is to get physically fit. I've had a few injury problems throughout the summer in Europe, which were pretty well documented, but I think if I can overcome them and get a really good run-in to the season I'm going to have a shot at it.
''We've now got this new fantastic facility in Perth, which was designed to make it easy to jump high, so I think if I get an opportunity to stay at home and do a few competitions in Perth, anything can happen.
''I'm looking at all of the events in Perth, including the national championships, which double as the Commonwealth Games trials, as well as the Sydney and Melbourne Grand Prix, as opportunities.''
Hooker said he was in the process of fixing the problem that culminated in his straining an adductor muscle a week out from the worlds - a problem he carried to the win nonetheless. ''I don't think I'll have any problem getting over it and moving on,'' he said. ''But I don't think I'm completely over it yet. I think the issue that caused it to happen in the first place, which was hip-related tightness, is not completely resolved.
''The specific injury itself, where the strain occurred, that seems to have settled down, but I still need to get my hip sorted out and moving properly, so I don't suffer the injury again.''
Asked if, in the wake of winning at the Olympics and worlds, the world record had become a holy grail, Hooker replied: ''Yeah, absolutely. I think it's probably always been my biggest career goal.
''All these other things - Olympics and world championships - are very, very important to me, and I guess on a yearly basis they are the most important things and the key thing to focus on, but in terms of my overall career, the world record is what I'm really striving for.
''I think I've still got my best years ahead of me and I'm definitely close. It's only eight centimetres now between me and the world record and I've been improving my PB by almost that much each year, in the last couple of years .
''So I'm steadily progressing towards it and I feel like I'm gaining a bit more maturity and a bit more consistency, and they're the two things I really need to get up there.''
The awards are voted on by the public. Asked if he thought he would appeal to the voters, Hooker said with a laugh: ''I didn't last year, so maybe they'll give me a chance this year. I don't know, I just go out there and try to perform to my best in my sport and all this other stuff is fun on top of that. It's going to be exciting to see how it plays out.''
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