World Champs Men - Hooker Gold! Mesnil Silver! Lav. Bronze!

[rainbowgirl28]

A few comments from Facebook:

- steve hooker, you are a badass

- Hooker rules. World champ with one clearance!!

- Hooker is the man!

- best WC PV performance ever? yep.

- Steve Hooker is the s***!

- serious respect to steve hooker. Im in awe!

[rainbowgirl28]

http://berlin.iaaf.org/news/kind=108/newsid=53897.html

Event Report - Men's Pole Vault - Final


Steven Hooker of Australia celebrates a clearance at 5.90m to win the men's Pole Vault final (Getty Images)
relnews

There comes a time in most athletes' careers when an injury forces them to cut their losses and forego competing in a championship. There are other times, however, when sheer guts and bloody-mindedness shines through.

Against conventional wisdom, Olympic champion Steve Hooker did precisely the latter and overcame a torn adductor and a neural problem in his upper quad to land the gold medal in a dramatic Pole Vault final.

Hooker stuck with the plan he adopted in qualifying by opting to enter at whatever height would be needed to finish in the top three. Given the severity of his injury, the Australian likely would have settled for any colour medal. But Hooker was playing a risky game - especially when six-metre-man Renaud Lavillenie was in the field.

All three Frenchman - Lavillenie, Romain Mesnil and Damiel Dossevi - were the only athletes to clear 5.55m and 5.65m at the first time of asking as they shared an early lead.

Meanwhile Derek Miles of the USA, fourth at the Olympics last year, was the first man to exit the competition, failing three times at the opening height of 5.50m.

As the bar moved up to 5.65m, five more of the 15 finalists were wiped out as Kevin Rans of Belgium, Malte Mohr of Germany, Alhaji Jeng of Sweden, Viktor Chistiakov of Russia and Daichi Sawano of Japan were made to pack away their poles. Nine men were left.

The flying Frenchman surrendered their shared lead at the next height as Ukraine's Maksim Mazuryk cleared 5.75m on his first attempt, as did Alexander Gripich, a PB for the Russian.

Lavillenie, Mesnil and Dossevi all failed on their first tries at this height, but it was Dossevi - the least favoured of the team - who cleared 5.75m on his second attempt to set a PB. Lavillenie pulled out a clutch third-time clearance, while Germany's Alexander Straub and Britain's Steve Lewis exited at this height. Mesnil skipped to the next height. Hooker did likewise.

Lavillenie regained his lead as he flew over 5.80m, but it was short-lived as Mesnil - who had a better count-back record - also cleared it and took pole position.

Former World champion Giuseppe Gibilisco failed on his first go at this height, and with two previous failures at 5.75m it was the end of the road for the Italian. Mazuryk had one miss and then skipped to 5.85m, while Dossevi and Gripich took three unsuccessful jumps and waved goodbye to the competition.

The field was down to four as the bar moved up to 5.85m. A first-time clearance at this height would put Hooker among the medals. He watched Mazuryk fail and then took his place on the runway.

With the pain from his injuries being masked by a local anaesthetic, Hooker sped down the runway, planted his pole, and got over 5.85m - but then nudged the bar on the way down. He lay on the bed, a devastated and battered figure. But he was then sent a lifeline in the form of a failure by Lavillenie.

It was then the 'other' Frenchman - Mesnil - who succeeded at this height, maintaining his lead in the competition. Mazuryk took one more try, but it was not to be, signalling the end of the competition for the Ukrainian. He was in the bronze medal position, but it would take just one good jump from Hooker to nudge Mazurk out of the medals.

Hooker and Lavillenie decided to move the bar up to 5.90m. What was Hooker thinking? Surely this would all end in tears?

And indeed it did - but they were tears of joy. In what can only be described as a Hollywood ending, Hooker nailed a perfect 5.90m vault. Against all the odds, Hooker was in the gold medal position.

Suddenly the pressure was on Lavillenie and Mesnil, but they could not respond at either 5.90m or 5.95m. Hooker, having taken just two jumps in the final, held on to his lead.

His 5.85m was the highest ever opening height in global championship history, and his 5.90m jump is the highest ever first-time clearance height. Ordinarily, of course, vaulters would not play such a risky strategy. But then again, Hooker is no ordinary athlete, as he proved tonight.

Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

[Bubba PV]

I remember first Steve Smith and then Mike Tully never taking warm ups, starting at a high height and just booming it. If you didn't know them you wouldn't even think they were there to vault.

Hooker was just incredible to do that with such an painful injury. Great courage by a real champion. His whole "body of work" including prelims was three jumps. Bubba

[Andy_C]

Man, I did not see this coming!

I was actually in doubt that Hooker would get a medal today.

This just in - Hooker is superman and Parnov is some kind of miracle worker, first Markov in Edmonton and now Hooker in Berlin - both guys pretty badly injured and still managed to win!

Congrats to both!

P.S. Now we hope and pray that his injury won't affect him again later on down the road!

[Bubba PV]

I don't see any future problems with that injury. I'm getting over it right now. The key is REST and now he can do that with nothing major on the horizon.

Like you, I'm still just blown away at what he pulled off and how he did it. I've been around the vault for a long time and have never seen a more impossible situation turn out this way. Totally amazing. I'd love to have 1/10th of his mental strength and focus. Bubba

PS – Andy, will you be in Sydney for the World Masters Games in October? If so let’s get together. Alan’s coming over from Adelaide to help me also.

[Andy_C]

I don't see any future problems with that injury. I'm getting over it right now. The key is REST and now he can do that with nothing major on the horizon.

Like you, I'm still just blown away at what he pulled off and how he did it. I've been around the vault for a long time and have never seen a more impossible situation turn out this way. Totally amazing. I'd love to have 1/10th of his mental strength and focus. Bubba

PS – Andy, will you be in Sydney for the World Masters Games in October? If so let’s get together. Alan’s coming over from Adelaide to help me also.

Yup, I'll definitely be there for World Masters! I'll see what I can do about helping, I'm pretty sure I can help
I would definitely take the time to meet another PVP'er though!

[rainbowgirl28]

From USATF:

Derek Miles (Tea, South Dakota), Men's pole vault

The legs were just not there. When the legs aren't working, you can't move the pole.

I was on a decent sized pole that I should make 5.50 over easy. I just couldn't run the same three times in a row.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090822/wl ... 0822190223

Olympic pole vault champ Hooker claims world title

BERLIN (AFP) – Olympic champion Steven Hooker of Australia added the world pole vault title to his Beijing crown by clearing 5.90m on Saturday at the World Athletics Championships.
The 27-year-old, whose personal best of 6.06m makes him the second highest vaulter in history, showed his confidence by sitting out the early rounds and only came in at 5.85m which he failed to clear.
But he opted to raise the bar and nailed 5.90m at his first attempt which was enough to give him the gold medal with Frenchmen Romain Mesnil claiming the silver and Renaud Lavillenie taking bronze.
After Russia's Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva failed to clear a single height in the women's event earlier in the week, Hooker's delight as he hit the mat with the bar still perched overhead was understandable.
Mesnil, who won the silver medal in Osaka two years ago, cleared the early heights, failed with his first attempt at 5.75m, but made no such mistake as he sailed over at 5.80m and 5.85m, which is his season's best.
His compatriot Lavillenie claimed the bronze on countback having cleared 5.80m, but failed to clear each of his attempts at 5.85m, 5.90m and 5.95m in his bid to match Hooker.
When Mesnil failed with his second attempt to clear 5.95m it gave the delighted Hooker the world crown to add to his Beijing gold.

[rainbowgirl28]

OK the flash quotes still aren't working properly, but this one it is obvious who is who...

http://berlin.iaaf.org/news/kind=112/newsid=53961.html

Gold - Steven HOOKER, AUS

I have no explanation except for the fact that I have really good people behind me: my doctor, my physio and my coach. I know it was a risky strategy I had to take. I needed just two jumps because after the qualification two days ago I felt strong pain, so it was kind of difficult to compete in the final. But I had a long break of 56 hours, so this helped me a lot. But this gamble paid off. I was tough enough to come and when I was trying 5.85m I knew that I can fight for the medal. I walked around. I still felt ok. So I thought that I can have another try.You must be tough to get through such an experience and I am sure it made me mentally tougher. My physiotherapist, doctor and coach helped me a lot to get through this. If this is the end of the season - I have to sort it out because the last two weeks were quite hard. Hopefully, there will be some more opportunities to jump. But definitely, I am not gonna rush back until my health has improved. When I won at the Olympics, this was the biggest day of my life. Today was the hardest day of my life.


[Mesnil, who wrapped his flag around his waist then proceeded to remove all clothing!]
I've nothing under the flag. Like in the video in Paris! There is satisfaction right now. Happiness will come later because, my mind is not out of the event yet. When you get through what I got through this year, this is very strong. This year I approached pole vault as a pleasure. I trained well, but not more than that. Hooker bluffed me, clearing 5,90m in two jumps. He's a great champion. To finish second behind him is not that bad. If sponsors come back after this performance, I'll welcome them with pleasure. I don't have a spirit of revenge.


[Lavillenie]
I have mixed feelings. I came here as a favorite, but this was also my first championship, so I didn't know too much what to expect. This is not the medal I wanted but I'm still satisfied that I did everything to get it. Romain showed tonight that he is still there. We've managed to motivate each other throughout the season to go and clinch a world medal, even though we both hoped for gold.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news ... -eunq.html

Hooker defies doctor to take gold medal
John Salvado
August 23, 2009 - 2:49PM
Miracle man Steve Hooker defied medical opinion, his coach's advice and conventional wisdom to take his place in the pole vault final at the world athletics championships.

Given the nature of the painful hip injury he suffered only 12 days ago, that the Australian team captain competed at all on Saturday was remarkable.

That he was able to win was something else altogether.

It seemed almost impossible that Hooker could top his gold medal performance at the Beijing Olympics - when four times he stared down elimination before clearing the bar at his third and final attempt.

But the victory in Berlin may just have done that.

Knowing that a local anaesthetic would only last for three hours - and that a pole vault final at a major championships takes at least four - the Australian waited until his competitors were vaulting at 5.65m before briefly leaving the arena to have the needle in his hip.

The radical high-risk strategy he had agreed to beforehand with coach Alex Parnov was to defy the pain and have one crack at 5.85m, hoping it would be enough for a medal.

His attempt was a good one, but he dislodged the bar with his chest.

Undaunted, Hooker summoned the willpower to have a go at 5.90m - and cleared it with room to spare.

No-one - not even the incomparable Sergey Bubka - had ever entered a major pole vault final so late and won.

But with French duo Romain Mesnil (5.85m) and Renaud Lavillenie (5.80m) failing to match him and being forced to settle for the minor medals, it proved to be enough.

"It's a mental battle that you have to fight with yourself and you have to convince yourself that you're ready," said Hooker.

"That you're ready to pick up the massive competition pole that's going to throw you nearly six metres in air.

"You've got to convince yourself that you're ready to do an aggressive jump .. and you've got to be prepared to take the risk."

The early diagnosis on the injury was that it was a torn adductor, although further scans suggested it may have been more of a neural problem.

Having treated Hooker daily for the last fortnight, Australian team doctor Adam Castricum told Parnov: "I don't think he's going to be able to compete. I don't want him to compete because I don't want him to wreck it."

Parnov visited Hooker in his hotel on the morning of the final to deliver the same message.

"I said if you aggravate your injury, it's probably going to affect you next year and I don't want that," said Parnov, who also coached Australia's only other pole vault world champion Dmitri Markov to gold in Edmonton in 2001.

"But the only person who could make the decision was Steve on the field, who can say 'I'm ready to fight'.

"Maybe because he's the captain of the Australian team, the Flame, he felt extra pressure.

"He said I want to go and do it.

"And under the circumstance of the injury he did it and I'm so proud of him."

Hooker, 27, was unable to say if he had enough left in the tank to have a third vault if either Mesnil or Lavillenie had stayed in the competition longer.

In the final wash-up, it didn't matter.

"I might have blown something off halfway down the runway - I'm glad it didn't come to that," said Hooker.

"I've proved something to myself by this working out the way it has.

"I know I've got a lot more in me and I know if I can jump like this under these circumstances, then when I'm healthy and I've got good conditions, then massive jumps are not out of the question."

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/st ... public_rss

Miracle man Steve Hooker chases record

Scott Gullan, in Berlin | August 24, 2009

Article from: The Australian
STEVE Hooker has set his sights on the pole vault world record after he defied the pain barrier and pleas from his doctor and coach to claim an inspired world championships victory.

Hooker's dramatic gold medal win - he had just two jumps and one clearance for the entire competition - was described by his coach Alex Parnov as a "miracle" given his battles with a thigh injury which required a pain-killing injection midway through the final.

It left his rivals in awe with French pair Romain Mesnil and Renaud Lavillenie, who shared silver and bronze, again referring to the Australian as the Usain Bolt of pole vaulting.

Parnov and team doctor Adam Castricum both suggested to the reigning Olympic champion on the morning of the final that he shouldn't compete because of the risk of serious injury.

But the 27-year-old team captain called on his renowned mental strength to produce an extraordinary performance yesterday, one which fuels his belief that Sergey Bubka's record of 6.14m is realistically within his grasp.

"I think I have proved something to myself by this working out the way it has," said Hooker, who jumped 6.06m in February. "I know I have a lot more in me and I know if I can do jumps like this under these circumstances, well, when I am healthy and when I have got good conditions, a massive jump is not out of the question.

"I am looking forward to seeing what I can do in the next year (with the world record)."

For the second time in consecutive world championships, Australia has won two gold medals - walker Nathan Deakes and hurdler Jana Rawlinson-Pittman were triumphant in Osaka in 2007 - with Hooker following the lead of Dani Samuels, 21, who 24 hours earlier had shocked the world in the discus final.

Hooker becomes Australia's seventh world champion, the others being fellow pole vaulter Dmitri Markov, Cathy Freeman and Rob de Castella.

It was 12 days before the final that Hooker sustained a grade one tear to his adductor in a training mishap at Australia's team camp in Cologne. He arrived in Berlin rated less than 50-50, doctors declaring the injury required, at the very least, a 21-day recovery period.

After getting through qualifying with just one jump, Hooker used a pain-killing injection to help block the extreme discomfort he was experiencing around the hip and thigh area.

Hooker was genuinely "surprised" that his strategy to only jump once, twice at best, had netted him a gold. He admitted he didn't know whether his dodgy leg would have allowed him to jump again if he'd missed at 5.90m.

"Honestly, early on there was no way I was going to jump," he said. "It wasn't feeling quite right during my warm-up, my hip was very sore. I went in and got a little jab from the doc when the boys were jumping at 5.65m and the more that kicked in, the more I thought I was more and more of a chance of jumping.

"But under these circumstances I thought that there was no chance I would come away with the gold medal.

"I thought I would have one jump in me like in the qualifying round. On Thursday in the qualifying round after I did 5.65 there was nothing left; it would not have been possible for me to get down the runway again and I thought it would be the same in the final.

"That is why I was so devastated when I missed the first attempt at 5.85. I thought that was my championships over but I walked around a little bit, my leg felt OK and I was able to have this second jump. I really can't answer if there was a third jump in me, I just don't know."

Mesnil and Lavillenie, who both failed at 5.90m and 5.95m, entered the competition at 5.50m. There were only three pole vaulters left out of the field of 15 when Hooker had his first jump at 5.85m.

"I don't know how I did it, it is very difficult to explain," he said. "It's a mental battle you have to fight with yourself and you have to convince yourself that you are ready, that you are ready to pick up a massive competition pole that is going to throw you nearly six metres in the air.

"You've got to convince yourself that you are ready to do an aggressive jump, you have to be prepared to take that risk and luckily for me I knew prior to this injury that I had done some fantastic training so I knew what great shape I was in.

"It has been a very, very challenging couple of weeks ... it has been a roller-coaster and every day it was a question of whether I would jump or not.

"Going to sleep at night wasn't the easiest thing. I have been sleeping like hell and luckily I had good people around me who have helped me make smart decisions and that is what got me through."

[rainbowgirl28]

Video interview with Hooker after the meet: http://www.flotrack.org/videos/speaker/ ... ven-hooker