Athletics Australia – NEWS – Hooker hungry for gold in Berlin

Olympic pole vault gold medallist Steve Hooker departs for Europe tonight ready to embark on what will be one of the most competitive seasons in men’s pole vault history in the lead up to the world championships in Berlin this August.

Hooker kicked off his 2009 season on the best possible note, securing seven wins from as many starts, including three consecutive meets over 6m and a new personal best of 6.06m at the Boston Indoor Games in February.

But his fellow competitors are not letting up, with three additional men jumping the esteemed six metre bar in the last thirteen months, including the emerging Frenchman, Renaud Lavillenie.

The 22-year-old Lavillenie joined the exclusive six-metre club in Portugal on Saturday, sailing 6.01m to add three centimetres to Jean Galfione’s French national record set in 1998.

United States’ Brad Walker (6.04m – June, 2008) and Russia’s Evgeniy Lukyanenko (6.01m – July, 2008) are also expected to be on Hooker’s tail.

“I think this year is probably going to be tougher (than Beijing).  Generally, the levels are a lot higher than last year,” Hooker said.

“This year there are a few more guys jumping 5.80m consistently and a lot of young guys are coming through and I really think there are going to be four guys jumping over six metres.”

Despite having an Olympic gold medal hanging around his neck, Hooker is still desperate to taste gold in Berlin.

“I am still very hungry.  I have never won a world championship medal so I want to go and do that this year, ideally gold.  I think Berlin is a great venue for me and the way that I jump. I have jumped well there before (5.96m in 2006).”

“I will be pretty unsatisfied if I finish this season without a good result in Berlin.”

Hooker leaves Perth tonight en route to Cologne, Germany where he will base himself for the next seven weeks to finalise his preparations for the world championships.

The 26-year-old’s preparations have not been flawless, battling a knee problem which forced him out of the nationals and a minor pectoral strain, but the 26-year-old is confident he is still in great shape.

“It’s not ideal what I have done but I still feel like I am in good enough shape where I can go and be competitive with anyone.

“I am not going to sit back and focus on what I have missed. I am going to focus on where I am at, what I am doing well and what I can improve in the next month or two.

“I feel confident that I can go out and jump high. I know the other guys will be jumping high so I am looking forward to a lot of fierce battles this year and looking forward to a bit more intense competition than I probably experienced in the indoor season,” a competitive Hooker said.

Hooker’s European campaign will include four meets in Lausanne (July 7), Reims (July 14), London (July 25) and Stockholm (July 31).

“I feel like this will be the right amount of competitions.  They’re all venues where I think you can jump high.  I will be going out and treating each of those competitions like they are the world championships final and trying to put up my best performances at all of those meets.”

The qualifying round of the men’s pole vault in Berlin is on August 20 with the final on August 22.

To receive updates on Steve’s activities overseas, including video diaries, sign up now at www.stevehooker.com.au

Athletics Australia – NEWS