Will Hooker compete in a tuxedo at Millrose Games?
Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 4:09 pm
http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=102/newsid=49131.html
Will Hooker compete in a tuxedo at Millrose Games? – IAAF Online Diaries
Steven Hooker celebrates his Olympic pole vault victory (Getty Images)
Olympic Pole Vault champion Steve Hooker is returning to competition in a series of indoor meetings, beginning with Friday night’s Millrose Games in New York, then continuing to the Boston Reebok Games and on to Europe for competitions in Paris, Stockholm and Donetsk. He talks about his experiences since that golden night in Beijing.
“I think the best piece of advice I got after the gold medal was ‘don’t change. Stay yourself.’
“I hope I’ve lived up to that. I think I’ve stayed pretty true to myself. I haven’t got too much out of control.
“The attention (that’s come with the gold medal) is not something I’ve enjoyed, or not enjoyed. It’s just something that’s different. It’s not something you crave, but a lot of the stuff that’s come along with it has definitely been fun.
“One thing that was a lot of fun was appearing on Rove (the Australian TV talk show) with US comedians Will Ferrell and John C.Reilly. Wouldn’t it be great if they made a pole vault spoof, though they’d probably have to win given it’s their film.
“There have been plenty of appearances but, surprisingly, I don’t think I’ve missed much training. Generally speaking, I’ve managed to fit it all in. I did have a week off to do Australia’s Greatest Athlete (a sports superstar-type program). It was the hardest week off I’ve ever had!
“Generally, the training has been going pretty well though and I’m looking forward to this indoor competition trip. Competing indoors is a good way to get a good base for your season. It’s an easier environment to start, given you don’t have to worry about conditions and things like that. So I hope to get a few good jumps behind me and hope I’m in good shape by the time I get down here.
“I’ve done New York and Boston before, but I haven’t done Paris indoors or Stockholm, so I’m looking forward to doing those two. Donetsk, of course, is Sergey Bubka’s Pole Vault Stars meeting, so it’s always great to compete there.
“Millrose will be my first competition since Beijing. It’s a great meeting. The officials in tuxedos, I love that, and the commentators walking around on the infield, talking to the athletes while they’re competing. It’s a whole lot of fun and it’s also going to be fun going somewhere like New York and seeing all the stuff there is to see there.
“Actually, my media manager Dave Culbert once competed against Mike Powell in Melbourne wearing a body suit made up like a dinner suit complete with bow tie and buttons. Maybe I can borrow that and upstage the officials.
“Then I hope to be jumping high by the time we get back home to compete against Yevgeniy Lukyanenko.”
(It was announced this week that Olympic silver medallist Lukyanenko and Japan’s Daichi Sawano would compete against Hooker and Australia’s other six-metre vaulter Paul Burgess in Sydney on 28 February and the opening meeting of the IAAF World Athletics Tour in Melbourne on 5 March.)
Steve
Will Hooker compete in a tuxedo at Millrose Games? – IAAF Online Diaries
Steven Hooker celebrates his Olympic pole vault victory (Getty Images)
Olympic Pole Vault champion Steve Hooker is returning to competition in a series of indoor meetings, beginning with Friday night’s Millrose Games in New York, then continuing to the Boston Reebok Games and on to Europe for competitions in Paris, Stockholm and Donetsk. He talks about his experiences since that golden night in Beijing.
“I think the best piece of advice I got after the gold medal was ‘don’t change. Stay yourself.’
“I hope I’ve lived up to that. I think I’ve stayed pretty true to myself. I haven’t got too much out of control.
“The attention (that’s come with the gold medal) is not something I’ve enjoyed, or not enjoyed. It’s just something that’s different. It’s not something you crave, but a lot of the stuff that’s come along with it has definitely been fun.
“One thing that was a lot of fun was appearing on Rove (the Australian TV talk show) with US comedians Will Ferrell and John C.Reilly. Wouldn’t it be great if they made a pole vault spoof, though they’d probably have to win given it’s their film.
“There have been plenty of appearances but, surprisingly, I don’t think I’ve missed much training. Generally speaking, I’ve managed to fit it all in. I did have a week off to do Australia’s Greatest Athlete (a sports superstar-type program). It was the hardest week off I’ve ever had!
“Generally, the training has been going pretty well though and I’m looking forward to this indoor competition trip. Competing indoors is a good way to get a good base for your season. It’s an easier environment to start, given you don’t have to worry about conditions and things like that. So I hope to get a few good jumps behind me and hope I’m in good shape by the time I get down here.
“I’ve done New York and Boston before, but I haven’t done Paris indoors or Stockholm, so I’m looking forward to doing those two. Donetsk, of course, is Sergey Bubka’s Pole Vault Stars meeting, so it’s always great to compete there.
“Millrose will be my first competition since Beijing. It’s a great meeting. The officials in tuxedos, I love that, and the commentators walking around on the infield, talking to the athletes while they’re competing. It’s a whole lot of fun and it’s also going to be fun going somewhere like New York and seeing all the stuff there is to see there.
“Actually, my media manager Dave Culbert once competed against Mike Powell in Melbourne wearing a body suit made up like a dinner suit complete with bow tie and buttons. Maybe I can borrow that and upstage the officials.
“Then I hope to be jumping high by the time we get back home to compete against Yevgeniy Lukyanenko.”
(It was announced this week that Olympic silver medallist Lukyanenko and Japan’s Daichi Sawano would compete against Hooker and Australia’s other six-metre vaulter Paul Burgess in Sydney on 28 February and the opening meeting of the IAAF World Athletics Tour in Melbourne on 5 March.)
Steve
