Hooker is back! 5.72 in Perth

News about pole vault competitions that occur outside the US and international pole vaulters.
User avatar
rainbowgirl28
I'm in Charge
Posts: 30435
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2002 1:59 pm
Expertise: Former College Vaulter, I coach and officiate as life allows
Lifetime Best: 11'6"
Gender: Female
World Record Holder?: Renaud Lavillenie
Favorite Vaulter: Casey Carrigan
Location: A Temperate Island
Contact:

Hooker is back! 5.72 in Perth

Unread postby rainbowgirl28 » Fri May 11, 2012 12:42 pm

http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news ... 1yivo.html


Hooker books Olympic pole vault ticket
Justin Chadwick
May 12, 2012 - 12:29AM
Read later
AAP

Steve Hooker's dream of defending his pole vault Olympic title is back on track after the 29-year-old secured his ticket for London in a glitzy meet in Perth.

Hooker, making his first competitive outing in three months, cleared the A-qualifying height of 5.72m on his second attempt on Friday night to secure his berth at a third straight Olympics.

The West Australian high-fived the crowd and hugged his coach Alex Parnov after successfully completing the 5.72m jump, with his relief evident for all to see after a turbulent few months.

Advertisement: Story continues below
A persistent knee injury and a worrying case of the yips had threatened to derail Hooker's Olympic campaign earlier this year.

"The confidence I require to stand at the end of the runway and then charge down, land my pole and soar almost six metres into the air has left me for the time being," Hooker said in February after announcing he would step away from all competition until he regained his mojo.

And regain his mojo he has, with Hooker easily clearing the required Olympic qualifying height in a specially-sanctioned meet held in his own purpose-built indoor training facility in Midland.

The former railway workshop was abuzz with glitz, glamour and an in-house DJ, with the invite-only crowd of around 150 people cheering on their Olympic hero.

Hooker needed two attempts to clear 5.52m, but soared over 5.62m on his first go.

With the bar then set at 5.72m, Hooker aborted his first attempt before easily clearing the mark next go.

With his confidence up, Hooker twice had a go at 5.83m, but pulled out of both attempts before calling it a night at 10.17pm local time.

"Mr Parnov, you're a genius. I'll never doubt you again," Hooker said after booking his Olympics berth.

Hooker, whose personal best of 6.06m makes him the second highest vaulter in the sport's history, will compete in the Diamond League meet in Shanghai later this month, before possibly taking in events in Rome, Munich, Oslo and Lille.

The Perth meet, which also featured Brodie Cross and Blake Lucas, was specially sanctioned by Athletics WA, meaning any height Hooker cleared would count towards Olympic qualification.

Women's pole vaulters Alana Boyd and Liz Parnov were the warm-up acts, with Boyd clearing 4.12m off a six-step run-up and Parnov posting 4.22m off eight steps.

User avatar
master
PV Lover
Posts: 1336
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2005 2:03 am
Expertise: Masters Vaulter, Volunteer HS Coach, Former College Vaulter
Lifetime Best: 4.36m
Location: Oregon

Re: Hooker is back! 5.72 in Perth

Unread postby master » Fri May 11, 2012 4:27 pm

rainbowgirl28 wrote:Women's pole vaulters Alana Boyd and Liz Parnov were the warm-up acts, with Boyd clearing 4.12m off a six-step run-up and Parnov posting 4.22m off eight steps.

Were these runs 3L and 4L as is implied the way we use the word step, or were they 6L and 8L?
- master . . . http://www.plvlt.com

User avatar
Andy_C
PV Pro
Posts: 256
Joined: Sun Nov 11, 2007 12:21 am
Location: Sydney, Australia / Orange County, California

Re: Hooker is back! 5.72 in Perth

Unread postby Andy_C » Fri May 11, 2012 5:54 pm

master wrote:
rainbowgirl28 wrote:Women's pole vaulters Alana Boyd and Liz Parnov were the warm-up acts, with Boyd clearing 4.12m off a six-step run-up and Parnov posting 4.22m off eight steps.

Were these runs 3L and 4L as is implied the way we use the word step, or were they 6L and 8L?


It will be six and eight steps as in 3L and 4L. I wouldn't imagine they'd ever use the other terminology as I've never really seen or heard of anybody in Australia that uses it. Seems to me it's only ever in the US that the "lefts" terminology is used.

Sorry to derail the thread a bit but just out of curiosity, do American long jumpers and triple jumpers also use the same lefts terminology?

-Andrew
Hard work is wasted energy if you don't work wisely!

ADTF Academy
PV Follower
Posts: 494
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2005 12:57 pm
Location: South Bend, IN

Re: Hooker is back! 5.72 in Perth

Unread postby ADTF Academy » Sat May 12, 2012 2:17 am

wasn't this the same facility that had a slight downhill runway?


You think a surveyor checked to see if the set up was legal?


Just a thought....... Glad he is back though will make the Olympics even more exciting.

dj
PV Enthusiast
Posts: 1858
Joined: Fri Oct 08, 2004 9:07 am
Expertise: Coach
Contact:

Re: Hooker is back! 5.72 in Perth

Unread postby dj » Sat May 12, 2012 6:07 am

good morning,

i believe the runway was surveyed from the beginning to make sure it was correct by IAAF standards when it was put in...

most Long Jumpers use 20 or more steps... so they will have maximum speed to be competitive... and because they don't have to deal with the pole they use "walkins" (which i don't recommend.. because of consistancy issues) and many use "odd" numbers of steps.. 21..23 instead of 20-22.. the long jumper again is not hindered by the pole and can use "odd" numbers without hindering the balance at the start...

i hope they are monitoring his 6 step.. and keeping it within "reason" for big jumps (no stretching) he could jump a PR and take shots at the WR..

looks like he is very focused, and smart, for London

dj

User avatar
Andy_C
PV Pro
Posts: 256
Joined: Sun Nov 11, 2007 12:21 am
Location: Sydney, Australia / Orange County, California

Re: Hooker is back! 5.72 in Perth

Unread postby Andy_C » Sat May 12, 2012 6:30 am

They actually have multiple runways in the facility. Here's a more detailed video about the place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o2iojC7gSw

I'm quite sure the competition would be on the blue runway which has no incline/slope. Also from the video he says that the blue runway is made out of a softer material better suited for training, so he should be getting even better results on a mondo surface!

Edit: the last jump on that video looked very impressive (was probably from shorter steps too), glad to see he's in good form - should make London much more fun!

-Andrew
Hard work is wasted energy if you don't work wisely!

User avatar
rainbowgirl28
I'm in Charge
Posts: 30435
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2002 1:59 pm
Expertise: Former College Vaulter, I coach and officiate as life allows
Lifetime Best: 11'6"
Gender: Female
World Record Holder?: Renaud Lavillenie
Favorite Vaulter: Casey Carrigan
Location: A Temperate Island
Contact:

Re: Hooker is back! 5.72 in Perth

Unread postby rainbowgirl28 » Sat May 12, 2012 12:22 pm

Isn't Perth kind of like University of Texas... usually good weather and a smoking tailwind?

RPVA03
PV Fan
Posts: 65
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2007 1:52 am
Expertise: Former High School and College Vaulter, High School Coach, College Coach
Location: St. Paul, MN

Re: Hooker is back! 5.72 in Perth

Unread postby RPVA03 » Sat May 12, 2012 6:24 pm

It's basically paradise.

User avatar
Andy_C
PV Pro
Posts: 256
Joined: Sun Nov 11, 2007 12:21 am
Location: Sydney, Australia / Orange County, California

Re: Hooker is back! 5.72 in Perth

Unread postby Andy_C » Sun May 13, 2012 3:19 am

Here's a video of the jump.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKPCeOYN4sc

Yeah, I think the weather in Perth is pretty awesome. Sydney has pretty good weather too, it's basically a semi-tropical San Francisco if you want comparisons (not just weather either). Melbourne is like the Bermuda Triangle of meteorology but if you can pole vault in Melbourne I think you can pole vault just about anywhere!

-Andrew
Hard work is wasted energy if you don't work wisely!

dj
PV Enthusiast
Posts: 1858
Joined: Fri Oct 08, 2004 9:07 am
Expertise: Coach
Contact:

Re: Hooker is back! 5.72 in Perth

Unread postby dj » Sun May 13, 2012 10:55 am

hey

looked like 16 strides.....??

dj

User avatar
Righteous Vaulter
PV Fan
Posts: 54
Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2006 2:24 pm
Expertise: Former Elite Vaulter
Lifetime Best: 5.61m
Location: Seattle, WA

Re: Hooker is back! 5.72 in Perth

Unread postby Righteous Vaulter » Sun May 13, 2012 11:47 am

Looked like 18 steps to me.
Indoors, so no tailwind.

Anyone else notice he stuck with the change and is jumping on UCS poles? Sweet.
A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

User avatar
Andy_C
PV Pro
Posts: 256
Joined: Sun Nov 11, 2007 12:21 am
Location: Sydney, Australia / Orange County, California

Re: Hooker is back! 5.72 in Perth

Unread postby Andy_C » Thu May 17, 2012 7:57 am

Thought I'd share this one as well. Red Bull's promotion of Steve is nothing but incredible.

http://www.redbull.com.au/cs/Satellite/ ... 3207228641

-Andrew
Hard work is wasted energy if you don't work wisely!


Return to “Pole Vault - International”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 32 guests