Steve Hooker will have one last chance to remove the super glue from his shoes before the Olympics when he contests the pole vault at Crystal Palace in London on Friday night.
Hooker has entered the two-day London leg of the Diamond League meeting in what is a good dress rehearsal for the conditions that can be expected at the Olympic Stadium in three weeks time.
Hooker will have his hands full with red hot competition, not only from the gold medal favourite France’s Renaud Lavillenie but Germans Malte Mohr and Bjorn Otto. The Germans are coached by the popular former European champion Tim Lobinger.
Lavillenie, undefeated this season, pushed the magic six metre barrier clearing 5.97 metres in Helsinki when taking the European championship crown on July 1.
Other Australians having their last pre-Olympic competition are long jumpers Henry Frayne and Mitchell Watt.
This will be a very hotly contested event as all the competitors in the Grand Prix event have season best distances over eight metres. Watt, the 2011 world championships silver medallist, is currently equal second in the Diamond League standings behind Russian Aleksandr Menkov.
On Saturday the two KMs, Kim Mickle and Kathryn Mitchell will contest the women’s javelin and miler’s Ryan Gregson and Jeff Riseley will take on the might of the Kenyans.
Riseley has a very competitive season best of 3:52.53 and Gregson 3:53.62 so both are showing solid form leading into London. Due to the cooler conditions of the London capital it will be the distance races and not the sprints at the Olympics that will produce the records.
After extending her season lead in Paris last Friday night by running a stunning 12.40, world champion hurdler Sally Pearson has a large pack chasing her. With 15 runners entered, the hurdles will be run in two heats with the final scheduled to be one of the finales set for 12:39am AEST Sunday 15 July.
If Pearson can keep this current form and the conditions are favourable, the dubious world record of 12.21 by Yordanka Donkova’s could be under serious threat by the end of the season.
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