Men Pole Vault Athletics Olympic Games 2008 Beijing, China - Friday 22.08 - Gold Medal: Steve Hooker, Australia
Final 22.08 19:55
Team
height
Q.
545
560
570
575
580
585
590
596
1.Steve Hooker
AUS
5.96m
12.
-
O
-
-
XXO
XXO
XXO
XXO
2.Evgeny Lukyanenko
RUS
5.85m
1.
-
XXO
O
-
O
XXO
XXX
3. Derek Miles
USA
5.70m
9.
O
XXO
XO
-
XXX
4. Dmitry Starodubtsev
RUS
5.70m
11.
XXO
XXO
XO
-
XXX
5. Danny Ecker
GER
5.70m
9.
XO
-
XXO
XXX
6. Jerome Clavier
FRA
5.60m
3.
XO
O
XXX
7. Raphael Holzdeppe
GER
5.60m
3.
O
XO
XXX
8. Igor Pavlov
RUS
5.60m
1.
-
XXO
-
XXX
9. Jan Kudlicka
CZE
5.45m
7.
O
XXX
10.Przemyslaw Czerwinski
POL
5.45m
7.
XO
XXX
-. Leonid Andreev
UZB
NM
3.
XXX
-. Giuseppe Gibilisco
ITA
NM
13.
XXX
-.Denys Yurchenko
UKR
5.70m
3.
XXO
XO
O
-
-
-
-
-
Thirteen men cleared 5.65 in the qualifying round, but 2007 World
Champion Brad Walker, who no-heighted, was not one of them.
Veterans Tim Lobinger (5.55) and 40 year-old Jeff Hartwig (5.55) also
failed to make the baker’s dozen.
Only six men cleared 5.70 in the final, and none of them had a clean
slate at that point. Lukyanenko, the 2008 World Indoor Champion,
looked a gold medal winner with his first-time clearance at 5.80, but
burly (1.87/85kg) Hooker cleared on his final attempt, and matched
Lukyanenko with a third time clearance at 5.85, before winning gold
with another final attempt at 5.90. Remarkably, Hooker – looking like
a fair haired version of Władysław Kozakiewicz – achieved his fourth
successive clearance on his third attempt, this time at an Olympic
record of 5.96.