WC MPV Q - Walker DNS, Hooker in, Miles only American

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/08/ ... .html?_r=1

Hooker Makes It Through Pole Vault Qualifying


By REUTERS
Published: August 20, 2009
Filed at 7:20 a.m. ET


BERLIN (Reuters) - Hobbling Olympic champion Steve Hooker gingerly qualified for the pole vault final, clearing 5.65 metres on his only attempt at the world championships on Thursday.

The injured Australian lay on the landing mat for more than a minute after his clearance, clutching the back of his heavily-strapped thigh before limping off. He did not try another height.

Hooker, who suffered a thigh injury in training last week, said he would employ the same tactic in Saturday's final, thinking he had perhaps one jump left in him. However he ruled himself out of contention for gold.

The competition also lost American world champion Brad Walker, who withdrew through injury before vaulting began.

Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie was among 15 competitors to advance.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpres ... DGAjdsBf9Q

Lewis vaults into final
(UKPA) – 6 hours ago
Commonwealth bronze medallist Steve Lewis breathed a sigh of relief after qualifying for the World Championships pole vault final in Berlin on Thursday morning.
Following a problem with his poles, Lewis found himself facing elimination after two failures with the bar at a height of 5.65 metres but rallied to progress and become the first Briton to make the final for 12 years.
"On the first attempt at 5.65m I'd switched my poles, so I put the tip of one pole onto the new one and it was really loose and then when I ran down it fell out," Lewis said.
"I was just running down there thinking this is going to be in the bag when it came off, then it messed with my rhythm for the second one."
Lewis added: "I was just pleased to get it out the way on my third."
On his championship debut, Luke Cutts failed to reproduce the form that won him the UK title last month, managing a height of only 5.40m.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... QD9A6IJK01

Walker pulls out of pole vault with pelvic injury
(AP) – 7 hours ago
BERLIN — American pole vaulter Brad Walker won't defend his title at the world championships, withdrawing from the competition Thursday with a pelvic injury.
Walker was hurt on July 28 at a meet in Monaco when he landed awkwardly on the mat, causing his hip to hit the ground. The tumble resulted in trauma to his pelvis.
Walker's agent, Peter Stubbs, said that when Walker runs "it causes movement of the joint and extreme pain."
Walker won the pole vault at the 2007 worlds in Osaka, Japan.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/stor ... 89,00.html

Steve Hooker defies pain to reach pole vault final at world championships
Article from: Font size:DecreaseIncreaseEmail article:EmailPrint article:PrintSubmit comment:Submit comment
Scott Gullan in Berlin
August 20, 2009 08:33pm
IT hurt like hell but Steve Hooker will continue his pursuit of world championships gold after requiring just one painful leap to get through qualifying.

The reigning Olympic champion's death or glory strategy with his injured thigh worked as he came into the competition at 5.65m and cleared the bar easily, although he was in obvious pain when he landed on the mat.
That was enough to make the final and afterwards Hooker admitted his future would depend a lot on how he pulled up but he was likely to adopt the same tactics in the final on Sunday morning (Qld time).

"It is hard to say at this point, I really don't know what is going to happen," he said.

"I knew I had to shut it down to give myself any chance of competing in two days, hopefully I can but I think things have to go well.

"At this point I am sort of committed to the championships and I have got to see it through.

"I hope it goes well and I am going to do everything I can. I am a very proud Australian and happy to be representing my country and I'm going to do everything I can."

Hooker said he would enter the final at a height he believed capable of winning a medal. Last year's bronze medal height in Beijing was 5.70m.

"Definitely it is not going to be an option for me to do any warm-up jumps," he said.

"If I did a warm-up jump and then have to wait an hour to start the competition it is not good for me.

"I don't know if there is more than one or two jumps in me. I will start at a height that I think is possible to win a medal and if I can do that I will be happy.

"I think potentially at these championships the gold is out of my reach which is disappointing. I am going to assess where I am at and try and do the best I can from there."

After his clearance Hooker lay there grimacing in pain for half-a-minute before struggling to his feet and clutching his upper thigh. He immediately requested medical attention and iced his right leg momentarily.

"I felt it strain a little bit coming down the runway," he said.

"I don't know if anything happened once we got off the ground as it is all a bit of a blur."

After Sally McLellan's misfortune in the 100m hurdles, the Australian team could ill-afford its other Olympic medallist to go down.

Interestingly, both Beijing heroes suffered their injuries at the Australian team camp in Cologne in the lead-up to the championships.

Hooker, who cleared 6.06m in February to become the second biggest vaulter in history, suffered a tear to his adductor during training 10 days ago as he was attempting a take-of.

An MRI scan in Berlin confirmed the Grade 1 tear with doctors indicating it was a 21-day injury.

The star vaulter was at best a 50/50 chance of competing but after a series of injections and intensive physiotheraphy his odds began to increase.

On Monday Hooker rated himself 60/40 but warned he wouldn't do anything which would jeopardise his long-term health. Thankfully that moment didn't come in the warm-up which allowed his world championships campaign to begin.

That wasn't the case for America's reigning world champion Brad Walker who withdrew from the competition after the warm-up because of a pelvis injury.

Hooker's biggest threat - Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie, who cleared 6.01m this season - comfortably made it through the qualifying stage.

One interesting face who also qualified was former Australian vaulter Viktor Chistyakov, the ex-husband of Olympic silver medallist Tatiana Grigorieva, who was competing for his native homeland of Russia.

[Vault-emort]

I just hope Dani Samuel's victory ceremony is held just before Steve takes his first vault tomorrow night *please God*

[Vault-emort]

Update from Athletics Australia

Hooker’s torn right adductor, which he originally injured at training 11 days ago, is on the mend, however it’s an associated neural problem in his upper right quad which is now causing the 27-year-old grief.

Although the neural problem is painful, it will not increase the risk of further damage and Hooker will receive a local anaesthetic to relieve the pain prior to tonight’s final.

The Hooker camp will follow a similar strategy to that of Thursday’s qualifying round. Not wanting to risk further injury, Hooker will not partake in any warm jumps and will only enter the competition when the bar is raised to a height that will win a medal.

[rainbowgirl28]

This guy just posted a whole bunch of videos from the World Champs qualifying. Start here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53dl5sMxj-8