Steve Hooker

Steven "Steve" 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 name	Steven Leslie Hooker
Nickname(s)	Hooksy
Nationality	Australian
Born	(1982-07-16) 16 July 1982 Melbourne
Height	187 cm (6 ft 1 ^1⁄2 in)[1]
Weight	75 kg (165 lb)[1]
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Pole vault
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals	2004 Athens Olympics, 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics
Medal record Representing  Australia Olympic Games 2008 Beijing Pole vault World Championships 2009 Berlin Pole vault World Indoor Championships 2010 Doha Pole vault 2008 Valencia Pole vault Commonwealth Games 2006 Melbourne Pole vault 2010 Delhi Pole vault World Cup 2006 Athens Pole vault Continental Cup 2010 Split Pole vault World Athletics Final 2007 Stuttgart Pole 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

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
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

• 6 metres club

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. Australian Associated Press (23 August 2008). "Aussie Hooker wins pole vault gold medal". Yahoo! Sports. 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". USATODAY. 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. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
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 (2014-04-12). Retrieved on 2014-04-13.
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.

External links

• Steve Hooker at World Athletics
• Steve Hooker personal website
• Steven Hooker at Australian Athletics Historical Results