Men's Final - Hooker 5.96 OR, Lukyanenko 5.85

[KirkB]

Yeh, I got that wrong. I edited my post - putting back in the full quote, including the Yurchenko mention. I'll leave the rest of my post intact, including my incorrect interpretation of the quote. My bad.

Kirk

[maxiverson]

I wonder why he kept getting hip-height, yet falling on the bar? Did he pull out a softer pole for the OR? I can't imagine that he sped up his run on his 13th vault.

I think that when we saw him discuss with his coach, I understood that he actually decreased the bar depth. If I saw correctly, on his 5.96m jump, the board was saying 40 cm, which is not very far. In that case, he must not have changed pole. Can anyone confirm that his depth was really at 40 cm, because this seems really close to me... I didn't know that the best vaulters could jump with a bar that close, we usually see the bar at 70 or 80, but 40 ???

[achtungpv]

I didn't know that the best vaulters could jump with a bar that close, we usually see the bar at 70 or 80, but 40 ???

I don't know if the board hadn't been updated but I have video of Bubka jumping 5.90 and the standards board says "50".

[rainbowgirl28]

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g5A ... CdJls2iexQ

Hooker ends 40-year Australian wait with pole vault gold
2 hours ago
BEIJING (AFP) — Steve Hooker of Australia set an Olympic record of 5.96 metres to win the men's pole vault gold medal at the Beijing Games on Friday.
The 26-year-old Commonwealth champion won the competition when he vaulted 5.90m at his third attempt. He then went on to break American Tim Mack's previous Olympic record of 5.95m set at the Athens Games in 2004.
It was the first track and field gold medal for the Australian men's team since Ralph Doubell won the 800m at the 1968 Mexico Games.
Russian Evgeny Lukyanenko claimed silver with 5.85m and Ukraine's Denys Yurchenko won bronze with 5.70m on countback.
"The whole competition was mentally and physically the hardest thing I've done in my life," said Hooker. It was more like boxing than pole vault.
"I was close to missing 5.80m but I made the big jumps when it counted."
Hooker said that setting an Olympic record had not been his goal.
"I'm just happy to put it together when it counts," he said. "I didn't care if I jumped an Olympic record or 5.50m. It's all about winning out here.
"However, the Olympic record is really special to me. Tim Mack is a really good friend of mine."
Hooker acknowledged that he had done his nerves no favours by leaving himself until the third attempt at several heights.
"I can't believe it. I was not expecting to see more 'O's than 'X's on my scorecard.
"I didn't expect to be there on my third attempt, and to do it three times, it's very draining.
"I should have skipped the second jumps altogether. They were not working for me. I should have gone straight to the third."

[rainbowgirl28]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3548964

Why do we love pole vault gold medalist Steve Hooker? Let us count the ways.

Because he's Australian, for starters.

Because he won his event in Olympic record-setting fashion by clearing heights on his third try four straight times, which is totally clutch.

Because he looks a lot like Bill Walton, you know, back in the hippie days. Or Fabio, with freckles.

And because his name reminds us of one of our favorite all-time literary characters, Steve Holt!

What, in that list, is not to love?

[rainbowgirl28]

Steve Holt!

[achtungpv]

Literary character as in from Arrested Development?!?

STEVE HOLT!

[achtungpv]

Having now actually read the article. I see, yes, it is the STEVE HOLT.

[nitro]

just saw it on tv... and derek miles grip looks really wide. I wonder what kind of injury Yurchenko had because he did a flip after making 5.70 then it showed him on the ground grabbing his leg

[spaseminars]

Sydney Morning Herald article with video and photo slideshow:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/athletics/ho ... 45971.html

[Kirk MPV]

The video shows the standards to be at about 45

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.thechampiononline.com/apps/p ... 26013/1002

Miles falls short just of Olympic medal
Bob Berghaus
Gannett News Service
August 27. 2008 6:00AM
BEIJING - Derek Miles gambled Friday night, and it might have cost him an Olympic pole vault medal.
Miles, a 35-year-old assistant track coach at the University of South Dakota, thought it would take a vault of at least 19 feet to earn a place on the medal stand at National Stadium.
After clearing 18 feet, 83/8 inches on his second attempt, Miles passed on 18-103/8 to conserve energy for a try at 19-03/8. He missed all three times and then watched as only two other people vaulted higher than he did.
A third, Denys Yurchenco of Ukraine, also cleared 18-83/8, but with fewer misses, he took the bronze. Miles finished fourth.

“It’s the Olympic Games,” said Miles, who placed seventh four years ago in Athens with a vault of 18-103/8. “You assume everybody is going to bring their best so you pass to what you think you’re going to need to jump to get to the top three at least, and that’s what we did.”
Steve Hooker of Australia set an Olympic record with a mark of 19-61/4. Evgeny Lukyanenko of Russia was second at 19-21/4. Yurchenco and Miles were two of four vaulters who cleared 18-83/8.
“Had I jumped 18-10, that would have ended up being good enough for a medal,” said Miles, a native of California and a USD graduate. “But in the Olympic Games, you assume 18-10 isn’t going to be good enough to medal and with six guys still jumping at 19 feet, I would assume three guys would go over. It just didn’t go that way.”
Miles went under the bar on his final attempt at 19-03/8. He was visibly disappointed knowing that he would not medal.
“There’s a lot of strategy there, a lot of second guessing,” he said. “Should I have gone up a pole, should I have jumped at 18-10? I was running out of gas.
“There’s all of these different kinds of facets you’re trying to take into account, and you make the best decisions at the right time. That’s pole vaulting. Twenty-twenty is always hindsight. You can what-if until the cows come home.”
Even with all of the decision-making, Miles, the only American to make the final, didn’t think he vaulted well.
“I knew I was capable of doing something that I thought would make the top three, and I knew I was assuming it would take (19-23/8 or 19-43/8) and I was prepared mentally to do that,” said Miles, whose personal best is 19-21/4.
“Except on the get-go, I was just forcing it today, things didn’t seem to fall into place. I don’t know if it was anxiousness or being a little off. It was just one of those days where not everything clicks.” and settled for bronze.