Steve Hooker Article

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Hooker hopes for home crowd edge

By Lyall Johnson
December 4, 2005

WITH the Commonwealth Games only 101 days away, Melbourne pole vaulter Steve Hooker is hopeful he is on track for a medal, possibly of the gold variety, in front of his home crowd.

Ranked second in the Commonwealth behind Western Australia's Paul Burgess, Hooker, 23, earlier this year recorded his personal best jump of 5.87 metres at a local competition in Box Hill.

It was the fifth-highest pole vault jump recorded in the world this year, 13 centimetres behind the highest jump of the year, recorded by Burgess, the favourite for the Games.

The Commonwealth Games might not boast the best of world pole vaulting, with the cream from Russia and the United States, but Australia's talented contingent should make the event one of the most exciting of the Games.

"In terms of the quality of the competition it is not up there with the World Championships or the Olympics because a lot of the good pole vaulting nations … are not going to be there," Hooker says.

"But Australian pole vaulting is so strong in itself at the moment, to even win a national championship is huge here.

"My height, 5.87 metres, is fifth-best in the world this year and Paul is number 10 in the world this year and Demetri Markov is a former world champion.

"Victor Chistiakov is back training again, he was fifth in the Olympics and has made two Olympic finals, so there is a lot of talent going around."

Due to the high standard of coaching in pole vault here, Australia has possibly the highest conversion rate of local vaulters into international- ranked vaulters.

At 23, Hooker is just entering the prime years in pole vaulting, most top vaulters not reaching their true potential until their late 20s.

Because pole vaulting is such a complex sport, sheer weight of experience is a big factor. Variables such as wind, type of pole used, changing grips under certain conditions and just knowing at what height to jump or when to pass all make a difference. .

"I'm still trying to work out what is best for me and … how to compete a bit better," Hooker says.

"I still make stupid decisions in competitions and quite often won't jump as high in competitions as my form would suggest I could.

"Whereas a lot of the older guys you see that in every competition, they seem to snake over a bar you think they are never going to get over."