News31 Dec 2008


Hooker and Stuczynski to continue Millrose pole vault tradition

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Steven Hooker celebrates his Olympic pole vault victory (© Getty Images)

The Millrose Games Pole Vault is legendary. From Cornelius Warmerdam to Bob Richards, Bob Seagren to Sergey Bubka, Stacy Dragila to Yelena Isinbayeva, the best vaulters in the world have made the pilgrimage to New York's Madison Square Garden. On 30 January, Olympic gold medallist Steve Hooker and silver medallist Jenn Stuczynski will carry on that tradition – with a 21st-century style of their own.

Hooker, the 2006 Commonwealth Games champion, took home the Olympic gold medal in one of the most-exciting contests of the 2008 Olympics, winning the men's Pole Vault on his third and last attempt after repeatedly bouncing back from the brink of elimination.

“I just sat back and realized I was doing something that every kid dreams of,” he said later. After securing the gold medal, the Australian star went on to set an Olympic record with his clearance of 5.96m (19 feet-6.5 inches). His win in Beijing made Hooker the first Australian man in forty years to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field, as well as the first Australian man in sixty years to win Olympic gold in a field event.

He also earned another huge honor: an imitation by comedian Will Ferrell on an Aussie talk show. “Anyone that knows me knows that a third of my vocabulary is dedicated to quotes from his movies,” an awestruck Hooker told an interviewer after the show, on which he also appeared.

Stuczynski, also the 2008 World Indoor Championships silver medallist, improved upon her own American outdoor record with her winning clearance of 4.92m (16 feet 1.75 inches) at the 2008 Olympic Trials, making her the #2 women’s vaulter in history. The dominant force in US women’s pole vaulting, Stuczynski is a six-time US Champion indoors and out. Since returning home to Western New York after Beijing, Stuczynski has been feted by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and honored at a Buffalo Bills game, among other accolades.

The 102nd edition of the Millrose Games kicks off the 10-meeting 2009 IAAF Indoor Permit Meeting series.

Organisers for the IAAF

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