'It was more like boxing than pole vault': Golden moment Steve Hooker soared to Olympic glory
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One successful jump stood between Steve Hooker and Olympic gold.
As the Australian pole vaulter — tall, chiselled and sporting curly ginger locks and a black headband — set his eyes on the runway at the Beijing 2008 Games, he knew that if he cleared 5.90 metres the gold medal would belong to him. Russia's Evgeny Lukyanenko had just failed in his final attempt at 5.90m, but Hooker had one final chance.
With his knees pumping high and a packed crowd at the Bird's Nest roaring in support, he bounded down the runway, dug the pole in the box, soared high into the Beijing sky, and propelled himself over the bar.
Steve Leslie Hooker was an Olympic champion.
Watch the video at the top of the page to see the moment Australian pole vaulter Steve Hooker won Olympic gold!
Australian pole vault legend Steve Hooker soars at Beijing 2008, at which he won Olympic Games gold. Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images
Screaming with elation, he sprung off the mat and sprinted towards his coach, Russian mentor Alex Parnov. His coach leapt out of the crowd and they met on the track, sharing an emotional embrace. Hooker then set off on a jog and celebrated with the crowd.
Moments later, he returned to the runway for a shot at the Olympic record. He cleared 5.96m to shatter the mark set by American Tim Mack in Athens four years earlier.
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Australia's Steve Hooker poses with his 2008 Beijing Olympics pole vault gold medal. Steve Christos/Fairfax
Hooker became the first Australian male to win Olympic gold in athletics since Ralph Doubell, who conquered the 800m in Mexico City in 1968. In a 60-year first, Hooker also became the first Australian, male or female, to win Olympic gold in a field event since John Winter, who won the high jump in London in 1948.
"The whole competition was mentally and physically the hardest thing I've done in my life," Hooker said at the time.
"It was more like boxing than pole vault.
"I was close to missing 5.80m but I made the big jumps when it counted."
