Athletics bible rates Hooker indoor best

(Wednesday, 29 April 2009)

The accolades continue to roll in for Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker, named ‘Indoor Athlete of the Year’ for the 2008/09 season by renowned athletics bible Track and Field News magazine.

The international athletics journal rated Hooker the year’s best, above European indoor champions Ivan Ukhov of Russia (high jump) and Briton Dwain Chambers (60m).

Competing in four countries over three weeks, Hooker maintained an extraordinary dominance over world-class opposition during his record breaking indoor campaign.

Securing five victories from five competitions in the United States and Europe, Hooker reached the magical six metre mark on three occasions. Only one other vaulter in history has cleared six metres in three consecutive competitions – the legendary Sergey Bubka.

The shining light was at the Boston Indoor Games on February 7, where Hooker became the second-best vaulter of all time, his 6.06m clearance also securing the Australian, Commonwealth and Oceania record, surpassing Dmitri Markov’s 6.05m from Edmonton in 2001.

For the first time in his career, Hooker also challenged Bubka’s long standing world indoor record of 6.15m set back in 1993. Hooker raised the bar to 6.16m on twelve occasions throughout his three-week overseas campaign and observers in the stands believe he fell short by only a whisker.

Hooker still remains undefeated in 2009, his victories in Sydney (5.95m) and Melbourne (5.80m) bringing his winning streak to seven.

Currently training at his home base in Perth, Hooker will head over to Europe in July for a string of competitions ahead of the world championships in Berlin from August 15 to 23.

With thanks to Athletics Australia.