Steve Hooker is back in the pole-vaulting groove

 
Jocelyn McLennan Roar Pro

By , 23 Jul 2012 Jocelyn McLennan is a Roar Pro

Tagged:
 , , ,

    4 Have your say



    It seemed all Steve Hooker needed was some fine dry weather to compete in to get himself back on track to defend his Olympic gold medal.

    Hooker cleared an outdoor season‘s best of 5.72m to in finish third in a low-key event in Szczecin in Poland on Saturday.

    Hooker’s training partner, Brit Steve Lewis, won the event with 5.82m, with veteran Brad Walker taking second on a count back.

    The shock result of the event was red-hot gold medal favourite, France’s Renaud Lavillenie, failing to clear his starting height of 5:62m.

    This result could boost Hooker’s confidence that Lavillenie may be coming back to the field on the eve of the games, and that the chance of defending his gold medal may be not so far out of reach as it seemed just a week ago, after he failed to clear a height at Crystal Palace.

    Although the temperature in the picturesque Polish town only reached 19 degrees yesterday, the dry conditions and the sound footing they would have provided were just what the doctor ordered for Hooker.

    However, interesting to note that the temperature in Hooker’s adopted home town of Perth nudged 24 degrees on Saturday, and with it also being such a dry month, perhaps returning home to train once the yips set back in could have been a solution for him. Not that it matters now, as it appears he has found his mojo and confidence again.

    Comparative heat wave conditions of 32 degrees are forecast for the Opening Ceremony in London this Friday, and further fine weather of mid to low 20s are forecast up until 1 August.

    However, with the final of the pole vault not scheduled until 8 August, a full two weeks after the opening ceremony, anything can happen with the fickle English weather as has been the case for their summer until now.

    However, at least for this week leading in to the opening, athletes should have favourable training conditions.

    Hooker showed his grit and iron will to win at the last Olympics while injured, and as Roger Federer has shown this July, we can write off true champions at our own peril.