Hooker hopes for record in London

[rainbowgirl28]

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/24072009/ ... ecord.html

Hooker eyes Bubka record
Eurosport - Fri, 24 Jul 13:26:00 2009
Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker thinks he can break Sergei Bubka's world record if conditions are right at the Crystal Palace Grand Prix on Saturday.


The 27-year-old Australian is the second-highest jumper of all time, but his outdoor personal best of 6.06 metres is eight centimetres short of Ukrainian legend Bubka's mark.
If Hooker falls short on Bubka's mark, he thinks there is at least a good chance of improving his own record.
"Conditions play such a big part in this event that you can't say on any given day whether you're going to jump the world record," he told Eurosport.
"At the moment I'm in good enough shape where, if I get my jump together and get on the right poles, it's a possibility in good conditions.
"That's not to say that it's going to happen on Saturday. I'll always give myself an opportunity to jump as high as I'm physically able to, but I'm not going to say how high I'll jump on any given day.
"It's something I've always aimed to do and I think it's good that people think it's achievable.
"It's a good pole vault set up (at Crystal Palace) on the back straight and guys have always jumped high here, so hopefully we can get some good weather and that can happen again."
It has been almost 15 years since Bubka's 6.14m jump in Sestriere, Italy and Hooker, 27, feels it is testament to what he calls "one of the greatest athletes of all time".
But he is convinced that the current crop - including Brad Walker, Timothy Mack, Renaud Lavillenie and Yevgeniy Lukyanenko - are competitive enough to get close to the record.
"It's been one of those world records that people think is going to last forever," Hooker admitted.
"But it can only be positive that there are a lot of guys who are pushing up to that sort of height now."