Steven Hooker

Steven Hooker

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Steven Hooker
Event pole vault
Nationality Australian
PR 6.00M
Born 16 July 1982 (1982-07-16) (age 28) at Melbourne, Victoria





Steven Hooker (1982-) is an Australian pole vaulter and Olympic gold medalist. His personal best is 6.00 metres, achieved on January 27, 2008 in Perth. This ranks him joint second among Australian pole vaulters, alongside Paul Burgess, and behind Dmitri Markov.[1]

His mother Erica Hooker was a 1972 Olympian and a 1978 Commonwealth Games long jump silver medalist. She also won nine national titles. His father Bill represented Australia in the 800m and 4 x 400m at the 1974 Commonwealth Games and won four national crowns.

Hooker won gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics with a vault of 5.96 metres, setting a new Olympic record, and making him the first Australian male track and field gold medalist since 1968.[2][3]

At the 2009 World Athletics Championships, Hooker won the gold despite a groin injury. On only his second jump, Hooker cleared 5.90 meters, to win the gold after missing 5.85 meters on his first attempt.[4][5]

At the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, Hooker won the gold medal with a vault of 6.01 metres, a championship record.

Career highlights

Year Tournament Venue Result Extra
2000 World Junior Championships Santiago, Chile 4th
2006 Commonwealth Games Melbourne, Australia 1st
World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany 5th
World Cup Athens, Greece 1st
2007 World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany 3rd
2008 World Indoor Championships Valencia, Spain 3rd
Olympic Games Beijing, China 1st OR
2009 World Championships Berlin, Germany 1st
2010 World Indoor Championships Doha, Qatar 1st CR

External links

References

  1. http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=2/newsid=43037.html#hooker+joins+exclusive+vault+club Hooker joins exclusive 6.00m vault club
  2. Evans, Simon. "Hooker gives Australia pole gold", Reuters, 2008-08-22. Retrieved on 2008-08-24.
  3. Australian Associated Press. "Aussie Hooker wins pole vault gold medal", Yahoo! Sports, 2008-08-23. Retrieved on 2008-08-24.
  4. Nesha Starcevic. "Hooker wins pole vault gold at worlds", USATODAY, August 22, 2009. Retrieved on August 26, 2009.
  5. Hooked on Success. Inside Athletics (September 2009 edition). [1]. Retrieved 7 October, 2009.