Countdown To Beijing: Walker vaulting to the top
Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 6:33 pm
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/otherspor ... ker09.html
Countdown To Beijing: Vaulting to the top
Ex-Husky has a good shot at gold -- if his back holds up
By GREG JOHNS
P-I REPORTER
Brad Walker is the top-ranked pole vaulter in the United States, a rising star with the three highest jumps in the world this year. But the former NCAA champion from the University of Washington knows his Olympic dream boils down to one day next summer.
For track and field athletes, it doesn't matter if you own the previous two USA outdoor titles or captured the silver medal from the last World Championship meet. Those efforts won't give Walker anything more than confidence when he hits the runway at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., for the 2008 U.S. Olympic trials on June 27.
Only the top three finishers in each track event qualify for the games and Walker -- who finished sixth in the 2004 trials -- knows the agony of coming within inches of his ultimate goal.
"It's one of the most high-anxiety moments you can be in," said Walker, 26. "In 2004, I was one of the young guys. I would have made the team with a personal best. It didn't go down that way, but just being there with an opportunity of making it was an invaluable experience."
Now one year before the opening of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Walker finds himself focusing on a series of international meets leading up to the Eugene qualifier. For the Spokane native, the next 364 days figure to be a supreme test of mind and body.
At the moment, the mind is strong, bolstered by the knowledge that nobody in the world has gone higher this year than the 5.95 meters (19 feet, 6 inches) he cleared in March in Brisbane, Australia. He backed that up with a 5.91-meter effort four weeks ago.
But the body? That's another matter, as Walker copes with a bulging disc in his back that limited him to six vaulting practices over the past eight months and forced him to rearrange his weight training to less vigorous methods.
"To say the least, it's been extremely hindering in training," Walker said after returning to his north Seattle home following a week with back specialists in Toronto. "But I have the three highest jumps in the world in 2007 and all have come with this back injury. I know whether or not I'm able to train at 100 percent, which I'm not close to right now, I can still get it done on the track when it counts."
Pat Licari, the UW coach who still works with Walker, expressed amazement over what his pupil has accomplished while dealing with his back issues.
"He's been on kind of a roller-coaster ride trying to get healthy," Licari said. "When push comes to shove, he gets it done."
This is the season Walker has pointed toward since his high school days in Spokane. Every fourth year provides the golden opportunity and 2008 figures to catch Walker in his prime.
He became just the 14th vaulter to clear six meters (19-8 1/2) when he set his personal best in Jockgrim, Germany, in 2006 and he's consistently been one of the world's top competitors since 2005.
Now it's just a matter of staying at the top of his game through the upcoming international season, which includes the World Championships in Osaka, Japan, at the end of this month.
In 2004, Walker's Olympic hopes ended at the trials in Sacramento when he finished sixth at 5.75 meters, just two inches from the necessary third-place berth. The top two U.S. vaulters that year -- Timothy Mack and Toby Stevenson -- went on to claim gold and silver in Athens, with Mack setting an Olympic record at 5.95 meters.
"Brad was just out of college then," Licari said. "He was so close. He really was the third-best jumper right behind Tim and Toby. He just got unlucky with clearances and misses and makes at the trials.
"But since then, Tim and Toby have kind of fallen off and Brad has taken over as the guy. There are a couple guys from Australia who have been pushing him, but Brad has been winning most of the big meets. As long as he can stay healthy, he has a legitimate shot."
Licari said Walker is knocking on Sergey Bubka's world record of 6.14 meters.
"He's about six inches from (Bubka), but I slow video down from his meet in Australia (when he went 5.95) and his hip height was a foot above the bar," Licari said. "He has it in him; it's just a matter of getting the right circumstances."
For Walker, this coming year figures to present many such opportunities. He's thrilled that the U.S. trials are in Eugene, a familiar stage for the ex-Husky. And while there will literally be many ups and downs between now and then, his sights are clearly set on Beijing one year from now.
"I've always been into the Olympics, glued in front of the TV every four years," he said. "It's definitely been a dream. It's the pinnacle of our sport."
BEIJING 2008
364
Days until the
Opening Ceremony
203
Competing nations
10,708
Athletes
28
Sports
302
Events
Countdown To Beijing: Vaulting to the top
Ex-Husky has a good shot at gold -- if his back holds up
By GREG JOHNS
P-I REPORTER
Brad Walker is the top-ranked pole vaulter in the United States, a rising star with the three highest jumps in the world this year. But the former NCAA champion from the University of Washington knows his Olympic dream boils down to one day next summer.
For track and field athletes, it doesn't matter if you own the previous two USA outdoor titles or captured the silver medal from the last World Championship meet. Those efforts won't give Walker anything more than confidence when he hits the runway at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., for the 2008 U.S. Olympic trials on June 27.
Only the top three finishers in each track event qualify for the games and Walker -- who finished sixth in the 2004 trials -- knows the agony of coming within inches of his ultimate goal.
"It's one of the most high-anxiety moments you can be in," said Walker, 26. "In 2004, I was one of the young guys. I would have made the team with a personal best. It didn't go down that way, but just being there with an opportunity of making it was an invaluable experience."
Now one year before the opening of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Walker finds himself focusing on a series of international meets leading up to the Eugene qualifier. For the Spokane native, the next 364 days figure to be a supreme test of mind and body.
At the moment, the mind is strong, bolstered by the knowledge that nobody in the world has gone higher this year than the 5.95 meters (19 feet, 6 inches) he cleared in March in Brisbane, Australia. He backed that up with a 5.91-meter effort four weeks ago.
But the body? That's another matter, as Walker copes with a bulging disc in his back that limited him to six vaulting practices over the past eight months and forced him to rearrange his weight training to less vigorous methods.
"To say the least, it's been extremely hindering in training," Walker said after returning to his north Seattle home following a week with back specialists in Toronto. "But I have the three highest jumps in the world in 2007 and all have come with this back injury. I know whether or not I'm able to train at 100 percent, which I'm not close to right now, I can still get it done on the track when it counts."
Pat Licari, the UW coach who still works with Walker, expressed amazement over what his pupil has accomplished while dealing with his back issues.
"He's been on kind of a roller-coaster ride trying to get healthy," Licari said. "When push comes to shove, he gets it done."
This is the season Walker has pointed toward since his high school days in Spokane. Every fourth year provides the golden opportunity and 2008 figures to catch Walker in his prime.
He became just the 14th vaulter to clear six meters (19-8 1/2) when he set his personal best in Jockgrim, Germany, in 2006 and he's consistently been one of the world's top competitors since 2005.
Now it's just a matter of staying at the top of his game through the upcoming international season, which includes the World Championships in Osaka, Japan, at the end of this month.
In 2004, Walker's Olympic hopes ended at the trials in Sacramento when he finished sixth at 5.75 meters, just two inches from the necessary third-place berth. The top two U.S. vaulters that year -- Timothy Mack and Toby Stevenson -- went on to claim gold and silver in Athens, with Mack setting an Olympic record at 5.95 meters.
"Brad was just out of college then," Licari said. "He was so close. He really was the third-best jumper right behind Tim and Toby. He just got unlucky with clearances and misses and makes at the trials.
"But since then, Tim and Toby have kind of fallen off and Brad has taken over as the guy. There are a couple guys from Australia who have been pushing him, but Brad has been winning most of the big meets. As long as he can stay healthy, he has a legitimate shot."
Licari said Walker is knocking on Sergey Bubka's world record of 6.14 meters.
"He's about six inches from (Bubka), but I slow video down from his meet in Australia (when he went 5.95) and his hip height was a foot above the bar," Licari said. "He has it in him; it's just a matter of getting the right circumstances."
For Walker, this coming year figures to present many such opportunities. He's thrilled that the U.S. trials are in Eugene, a familiar stage for the ex-Husky. And while there will literally be many ups and downs between now and then, his sights are clearly set on Beijing one year from now.
"I've always been into the Olympics, glued in front of the TV every four years," he said. "It's definitely been a dream. It's the pinnacle of our sport."
BEIJING 2008
364
Days until the
Opening Ceremony
203
Competing nations
10,708
Athletes
28
Sports
302
Events