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Stuczynski, Hooker to compete at 2009 Millrose Games
12-29-2008

Contact:
Tom Surber
Media Information Manager
USA Track & Field
317-713-4690
INDIANAPOLIS - Olympic pole vault medalists Jenn Stuczynski and Steven Hooker will compete January 30 at the 102nd Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden in New York City, organizers announced Monday.

The Millrose Games in New York is the first event of USA Track & Field's 2009 Indoor Visa Championship Series. The event will be televised live on ESPN2 from 7-8:30 p.m., and on January 31 from 1:30-2:30 p.m. on NBC (all times Eastern).

Stuczynski won the Olympic silver medal in the women's pole vault last summer in Beijing. The 2008 World Indoor Championships silver medalist, Stuczynski improved upon her own American outdoor record with her winning clearance of 4.92m/16 feet 1.75 inches at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials - Track & Field, making her the #2 women's vaulter of all-time. The unquestioned dominant force in U.S. women's pole vaulting, Stuczynski has won three USA Indoor and Outdoor national titles. She was the 2008 Millrose runner-up.

Competing for Australia, Hooker was the gold medalist in one of the most exciting contests of the 2008 Olympics. The 2007 Millrose Games runner-up won the men's pole vault on his third and last attempt after repeatedly bouncing back from the brink of elimination. After securing the gold medal, the Australian star went on to set an Olympic record with his clearance of 5.96m/19-6.50.

Tickets for the 2009 Millrose Games are now available at Ticketmaster (call 212-307-7171, visit www.Ticketmaster.com or at Ticketmaster outlets); at the Madison Square Garden box office or on-line at www.Millrose-Games.com. USATF welcomes you to pay with your Visa.

For more information on the 2009 USATF Visa Championship Series, visit www.usatf.org

http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=48797.html

Hooker and Stuczynski to continue Millrose pole vault tradition

Steven Hooker celebrates his Olympic pole vault victory (Getty Images)
relnews

New York, USA - The Millrose Games Pole Vault is legendary. From Cornelius Warmerdam to Bob Richards, Bob Seagren to Sergey Bubka, Stacy Dragila to Yelena Isinbayeva, the best vaulters in the world have made the pilgrimage to New York's Madison Square Garden. On 30 January, Olympic gold medallist Steve Hooker and silver medallist Jenn Stuczynski will carry on that tradition – with a 21st-century style of their own.

Hooker, the 2006 Commonwealth Games champion, took home the Olympic gold medal in one of the most-exciting contests of the 2008 Olympics, winning the men's Pole Vault on his third and last attempt after repeatedly bouncing back from the brink of elimination.

“I just sat back and realized I was doing something that every kid dreams of,” he said later. After securing the gold medal, the Australian star went on to set an Olympic record with his clearance of 5.96m (19 feet-6.5 inches). His win in Beijing made Hooker the first Australian man in forty years to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field, as well as the first Australian man in sixty years to win Olympic gold in a field event.

He also earned another huge honor: an imitation by comedian Will Ferrell on an Aussie talk show. “Anyone that knows me knows that a third of my vocabulary is dedicated to quotes from his movies,” an awestruck Hooker told an interviewer after the show, on which he also appeared.

Stuczynski, also the 2008 World Indoor Championships silver medallist, improved upon her own American outdoor record with her winning clearance of 4.92m (16 feet 1.75 inches) at the 2008 Olympic Trials, making her the #2 women’s vaulter in history. The dominant force in US women’s pole vaulting, Stuczynski is a six-time US Champion indoors and out. Since returning home to Western New York after Beijing, Stuczynski has been feted by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and honored at a Buffalo Bills game, among other accolades.

The 102nd edition of the Millrose Games kicks off the 10-meeting 2009 IAAF Indoor Permit Meeting series.

Organisers for the IAAF

102nd Millrose Games Tickets: USATF Member Discounts Available

Tickets for the 102nd Millrose Games (January 30) are now available to 2009 USATF members at discounted prices. As a 2009 USATF member you will receive a $10 discount on $40-$100 tickets when you place your order online. To access the USATF discount code visit the USATF Members-Only website (be sure to have your 2009 membership number and password ready).

http://www.usatf.org/news/view.aspx?DUI ... 3_13_06_18

Also in field event lineups, 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials pole vault champion Derek Miles, who was fourth at the 2008 Olympic Games, has been added to a field that includes gold medalist Steven Hooker of Australia.

http://www.trackshark.com/features/upda ... erage.html

Trackshark will have on-site coverage of the 2009 Millrose Games in New York City on Saturday, January 30 starting at 6pm. The Millrose Games will be televised on ESPN2, Jan. 30, 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. and NBC, Jan. 31, 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. Stay tuned for complete on-site coverage from the first Visa Championship Series event of the season.

For Immediate Release
Thursday, January 29, 2009

Contact:
Jill Geer
Director of Communications
(317) 713-4654; <mailto:Jill.Geer@usatf.org>Jill.Geer@usatf.org


Field event favorites bring mettle, medals to Millrose Games

NEW YORK - Event organizers on Thursday hosted a press conference in advance of the 102nd Millrose Games, which will be run Friday evening at Madison Square Garden. On hand for Thursday's press conference were Olympic men's pole vault gold medalist Steven Hooker of Australia; 2007 World Outdoor and 2006 World Indoor men's shot put champion Reese Hoffa; and Olympic women's pole vault silver medalist and outdoor American record holder Jenn Stuczynski.

Below are excerpts from Thursday's press conference.

STEVEN HOOKER:

It's fantastic to be here. I have come a long way. This is about as far as I travel around the world. I come from Perth, so there's about 12 hours' difference on the time difference. For me, this is my first competition since Beijing, so it's going to be interesting to see how that feels, to get out there. I always enjoy competing against Derek (Miles, the defending Millrose Games champion), who came fourth at the Olympics. He finished off the season really strong last year and he's probably one of the most in-form guys in the world at the moment. It should be a really good competition. I'm just hoping to get out there and have a really good time. It's always a fun meet. I've enjoyed it. I did it two years ago and am looking forward to get back into competing.

There's less variables indoors for us. The event itself stays pretty much the same. For us, it's very, very similar to jumping outside, it's just less variables. You don't have to worry about the weather or the wind, which are two main concerns for us. It takes a bit of the randomness out of it. Indoors it's a pretty level playing field, and more often than not you see the best guys at the top. The indoor world record is higher than the outdoor world record.

I've generally underperformed at World Championships, so going into this year, my focus is to get a good result there (at the 2009 World Outdoor Championships) for the first time. I'd also like to get a personal best and get as close to the world record as I can. That's a constant, those two goals.

On how life is different since winning the Olympic gold: It's been a bit different. I can't really walk down the street at home without people coming up. A lot of people come up and saying congratulations. The event was on on a Friday night, and it ran until after midnight in Australia when they were watching it live. A lot of people tell me their stories about where they were when my competition was on, or how it affected them, or how much beer they went out and drank after I won. It had quite an effect at home. It's been 40 years since an Australian won the men's pole vault gold medal, so it was a pretty big deal back home. It has changed my life, but only in the superficial sense. Everything that is real has remained constant. You've got your family and friends, and that stays the same. I am training just as hard as I was before the Olympic Games. I still love pole vault just as much. ... I got a lot of drinks poured for me when I got home. It was hard to stay sober (laughs).


JENN STUCZYNSKI:

I don't have a good track record. It's one of those things we call the Millrose Curse. Every time I try to jump, something just happens and it's a second (place), a fourth, a second. So this time the goal is just to try to win the meet. We don't have any specific heights in mind. It's my first meet of the season, and I usually have about six meets in by now. We'll see how it goes.
After the Olympics, I took a lot of time off and I worked on a lot of technical things. Just to avoid burnout, we eased into the indoor season. We're going to try to make it a little more of a technical season and try to enjoy things, try to enjoy the meets and the competitions.

When you start to compete, you just try to make the bar. Once the season ended, I tried to work on things in my swing, things in my takeoff, things in my run. There are going to be times in competition where I'm going to have to think of it (the technical aspects). It's getting to the point where I have to do it on game day, not just in practice. We're going to use the indoor season to make those adjustments.

On the Olympic experience: The Olympic experience is ... so many people can tell you about the Trials and all that. Until you go through it, you don't really understand. People said I am going to be stressed out, that you need to be able to emotionally talk to someone, and it's true. You have to go through the Trials and you have to qualify, first, in the U.S., and that's stressful. As you know, I was on my third attempt at the opening height (at the Olympic Trials). I almost had a chance of not going. Then you go to the Olympics and the whole experience is mind-blowing. Until you've been in it, you really don't understand it. Afterwards, though, you're just glad it's over. You're glad it worked out and you go back home, and everything's quiet again.

On competitive rivalries: When you're competing with anyone, you're competing. It's competition. It's athletics. I think the shot putters are the best at it. They're in there, they're competing, and they're competing hard. Then at the end of it, they're all having something to eat together. I think that is a good way to compete, to compete hard on the field and then off field, do your own thing.

Tickets for the 2009 Millrose Games are now available at Ticketmaster (call 212-307-7171, visit www.Ticketmaster.com or at Ticketmaster outlets); at the Madison Square Garden box office or on-line at www.Millrose-Games.com. USATF welcomes you to pay with your Visa.  

Yay start lists are finally posted!

MENS' POLE VAULT
ATHLETE/TEAM NATIONALITY
HOOKER STEVEN AUS
BURGESS PAUL AUS
LANARO GIOVANNI MEX
MILES DEREK USA
PAULI JACOB USA
NEIDERMEYER DARREN USA


STUCZYNSKI JENN USA
LARSÅSEN CATHRINE NOR
DRAGILA STACY USA
BARTOLINA ERICA USA
PARNOV VICTORIA AUS



Congratulations to Darren for getting in the meet!


I seriously gotta question them taking the Norwegian girl (PR of 4.30, has jumped 4.15 this year) over Lacy or Chelsea who have both jumped 4.45 this year. Seriously?

Here are the video conference interviews - Bubba
http://www.millrose-games.com/multimedia/video-gallery/

Anyone going besides me?

LHSvaulter wrote:Anyone going besides me?

im not, but my friend is, and im so jealous of her.

I'm gonna be at the Boston Indoor Games as well...