Steve Hooker

Steven Leslie Hooker OAM (born 16 July 1982 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian former pole vaulter and Olympic gold medalist. His personal best, achieved in 2008, is 6.06 m (19 ft 10 1⁄2 in) making him the fourth-highest pole vaulter in history,[2] behind Sergey Bubka and Renaud Lavillenie and Armand Duplantis.

Steve Hooker
Steve Hooker in 2008
Personal information
Full nameSteven Leslie Hooker
Nickname(s)Hooksy
NationalityAustralian
Born (1982-07-16) 16 July 1982
Melbourne, Australia
Height187 cm (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)[1]
Weight75 kg (165 lb)[1]
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)Pole vault
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals2004 Athens Olympics, 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics
Medal record
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
2008 Beijing Pole vault
World Championships
2009 BerlinPole vault
World Indoor Championships
2010 DohaPole vault
2008 ValenciaPole vault
Commonwealth Games
2006 Melbourne Pole vault
2010 Delhi Pole vault
World Cup
2006 AthensPole vault
Continental Cup
2010 SplitPole vault
World Athletics Final
2007 StuttgartPole vault

Hooker also has a personal best of 10.82 s in 100 m as an amateur sprinter.[3] He ran in the 2010 Stawell Gift.

Career

Hooker won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with a vault of 5.96 metres, setting a new Olympic record, and making him the first Australian male track and field gold medallist in 40 years since Ralph Doubell won the 800 metres in Mexico City in 1968.[4][5][6]

At the 2009 World Athletics Championships, in Berlin, Hooker won the gold medal despite a hamstring injury. On only his second jump, Hooker cleared 5.90 metres, to win the gold medal after missing 5.85 metres on his first attempt.[7][8]

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

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Hooker won the gold medal in the pole vault.

Hooker competed at the 2012 London Olympics and finished 14th after failing to vault a height in the final.[9]

Hooker joined six-metre club for the first time on 27 January 2008 at an outdoor competition in Perth, Western Australia with a vault of 6.0m.[10] On 7 February 2009, at the Boston Indoor Games he set an Australian indoor record with a vault of 6.06m. Both heights were the Australian record at the time of his retirement.[11]

During his career he was coached by Mark Stewart and Alex Parnov.[10]

He retired from athletics in April 2014, choosing to focus on his family, his wife Yekaterina Kostetskaya having given birth to their first son, Maxim, in 2013.[12]

Honours

In the January 2009 New Years Honours List, Steve Hooker was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) "For service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games".[13] In October 2017, Hooker was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame as an athlete member.[10]

Personal life

Hooker attended Greythorn Primary School and Balwyn High School in Balwyn North, Victoria.

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 800 m and 4 x 400 m at the 1974 Commonwealth Games and won four national crowns.

He began his career with the Box Hill Athletic Club. His career started slowly, and he only went professional in 2006. He relocated to Perth, living on a very modest Australian Sports Commission allowance.

Hooker was emotional after victory at the 2009 World Championships

Summary of athletic achievements
YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
Representing  Australia
2000 World Junior Championships Santiago, Chile 4th 5.20 m
2006 Commonwealth Games Melbourne, Australia 1st 5.80 m
World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany 5th 5.75 m
World Cup Athens, Greece 1st 5.80 m
2007 World Athletics Final Stuttgart, Germany 3rd 5.81 m
2008 World Indoor Championships Valencia, Spain 3rd 5.80 m
Olympic Games Beijing, China 1st 5.96 m OR
2009 World Championships Berlin, Germany 1st 5.90 m
2010 World Indoor Championships Doha, Qatar 1st 6.01 m CR
Continental Cup Split, Croatia 1st 5.95 m CR
Commonwealth Games New Delhi, India 1st 5.60 m

See also

References
  1. Steve Hooker's profile at the IAAF site
  2. "Hooker's rise continues - 6.06m in Boston". Archived from the original on 9 February 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  3. "Steve Hooker to run in Stawell Gift". Archived from the original on 22 March 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  4. "Steve Hooker lives out his Olympic games dream". The Australian. 24 August 2009. Archived from the original on 9 October 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
  5. Evans, Simon (22 August 2008). "Hooker gives Australia pole gold". Reuters.
  6. "Aussie Hooker wins pole vault gold medal". Yahoo Sports. Australian Associated Press. 23 August 2008. Archived from the original on 25 August 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2008.
  7. Nesha Starcevic (22 August 2009). "Hooker wins pole vault gold at worlds". USA Today. Archived from the original on 27 August 2009. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
  8. Hooked on Success Archived 27 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Inside Athletics (September 2009 edition). Archived 29 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
  9. "Steven Hooker". Australian Athletics Historical Results. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  10. "Steve Hooker's golden record vaults him into Hall of Fame". Sport Australia Hall of Fame website. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  11. "Steven Hooker". IAAF website. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  12. Australian pole vault star Steve Hooker retires Archived 14 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF (12 April 2014). Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  13. "For service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games" Archived 21 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine, It's an Honour, 26 January 2009. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
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