Walker overcame head injury to win worlds

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http://gohuskies.collegesports.com/spor ... 06aaa.html

Walker Wins World Championship Gold
Former Husky vaulter Brad Walker had to overcome a head injury after falling off the pit in practice.


March 12, 2006

MOSCOW, Russia - Former University of Washington pole vaulter Brad Walker overcame a head injury an elite field to win the gold medal at the IAAF World Indoor Track and Field Championships early Sunday morning. The gold is the first in international competition for Walker, who continues to train at Dempsey Indoor on the UW campus.

A 2004 UW graduate, Walker has won three U.S. vault titles and two world championships medals since turning professional less than two years ago. Walker has been ranked No. 1 in the world since the fall of 2005, and entered Sunday's competition favored to improve upon his silver-medal performance at last year's Outdoor World Championships.

Walker's road to victory Sunday was complicated when the Spokane native fell off the pit during a practice vault Saturday, striking his head on the turf. The 24-year-old completed the qualifying round - finishing second overall - before undergoing a CT scan at the hands of the Russian federation, which determined no significant damage.

Still sore Sunday, Walker his missed his first attempt of the day, at 18-feet, 4 ¼-inch, but was perfect on his next two attempts to advance to 19-0 ½ with just one other vaulter, Sweden's Alhaji Jeng, remaining in the competition. After missing both of his first two attempts, Walker cleared the bar on his third, then watched as Jeng missed his final jump, giving the former Husky his first international gold medal.

"This is amazing!," Walker said afterward. "I didn't want another silver (medal) like Helsinki. Thankfully, on my third attempt everything came together and I won the gold medal."

Walker went on to credit the USATF staff, and the members of the Russian federation, for helping him in the aftermath of his training injury. "I cannot say enough about the USATF staff this weekend," Walker said. "Between chasing down my poles and me having my unfortunate accident in prelims, they were supportive the whole way through and walked me through it."

In addition to his gold medal, Walker won $40,000 in prize money from the IAAF. For complete meet results, visit www.iaaf.org.

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http://www.usatf.org/news/view.aspx?DUI ... 2_12_17_19

Walker, Davis win gold at World Indoor Championships
03-12-2006

Contact:
Tom Surber
Media Information Manager
USA Track & Field
317-713-4690

MOSCOW, Russia - Brad Walker overcame an injury to win the men's pole vault and Walter Davis won his second world championships gold medal on the final day of the 11th World Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Olimpiyskiy Sport Palace Complex in Moscow.

The 2005 World Outdoor Championships silver medalist, Walker (Seattle, Wash.) fell off the pit during a practice attempt prior to Saturday's qualifying round and hit his head outside the pit. He went on to qualify for the final and won it with a clutch seasonal best clearance of 5.80 meters/19-0.50 on his third attempt at that height.

"I understated how fast I was moving on the runway during warm-ups and I rotated into the pit and went off to the side," said Walker of his Saturday mishap. "My feet and legs hit the pit and threw my back and head onto the track and I hit my head. The lights went out for a while and I got back up and qualified. I had a little bit of a whiplash. I had a CT scan thanks to the Russian Federation and it was determined that I was stable and healthy, which was the most important thing to me. I was sore today and feeling the effects of what happened. I was just a little bit cautious hitting the pit in warm-ups.

"This is amazing! I didn't want another silver (medal) like Helsinki. Thankfully, on my third attempt everything came together and I won the gold medal.

"I cannot say enough about the USATF staff this weekend. Between chasing down my poles and spending a bunch of man hours chasing those down, and me having my unfortunate accident in prelims, they were supportive the whole way through and walked me through it." American record holder Jeff Hartiwg (Jonesboro, Ark.) did not clear a height in the men's pole vault competition.