Steven Leslie Hooker OAM (born 16 July 1982) is an Australian former

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

er and

Olympic gold medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

ist. His personal best, achieved in 2008, is making him the fourth-highest pole vaulter in history, behind

Sergey Bubka Sergey Nazarovych Bubka (; ''Serhiy Nazarovych Bubka''; born 4 December 1963) is a Ukrainian former pole vaulter. He represented the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. Bubka was twice named Athlete of the Year by '' Track & Field News ...

Renaud Lavillenie Renaud Lavillenie ( or ; born 18 September 1986) is a French pole vaulter. Lavillenie won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2012 Olympics in London and the silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, 2016 Olympics in Rio. In addition to ...

and

Armand Duplantis Armand "Mondo" Gustav Duplantis (born 10 November 1999), is a Swedish and American pole vaulter who competes for Sweden. Regarded as the greatest pole vaulter of all time, Duplantis is the current List of world records in athletics, world recor ...

. Hooker was born in

Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, and has a personal best of 10.79 s in 100 m as an amateur sprinter. He ran in the 2010

Stawell Gift The Stawell Gift is Australia's oldest and richest short-distance running race. It is the main event in an annual carnival held on Easter weekend by the Stawell Athletic Club, with the main race finals on the holiday Monday, at Central Park, S ...

Career

Hooker won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with a vault of 5.96 metres, setting a new

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games. Summer Olympics * Archery at the Summer Olympics, Archery (List of Olympic records in archery, li ...

, and making him the first Australian male

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

gold medallist in 40 years since

Ralph Doubell Ralph Douglas Doubell AM (born 11 February 1945) is an Australian former athlete, and gold medallist at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Athletic career Doubell was born in Melbourne, was educated at Melbourne High School and graduated from the Univ ...

won the 800 metres in Mexico City in 1968. At the

2009 World Athletics Championships The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

, in Berlin, Hooker won the gold medal despite a hamstring injury. On only his second jump, Hooker cleared 5.90 metres, to win the gold medal after missing 5.85 metres on his first attempt. At the

2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010. Bidding and organisation Th ...

, Hooker won the gold medal in the pole vault with a vault of 6.01 metres, a championship record. At the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

, Hooker won the gold medal in the pole vault. Hooker competed at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and finished 14th after failing to vault a height in the final. Hooker joined six-metre club for the first time on 27 January 2008 at an outdoor competition in

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

with a vault of 6.0m. On 7 February 2009, at the Boston Indoor Games he set an Australian indoor record with a vault of 6.06m. Both heights were the Australian record at the time of his retirement. During his career he was coached by Mark Stewart and Alex Parnov. He retired from athletics in April 2014, choosing to focus on his family. His wife

Yekaterina Kostetskaya Yekaterina Aleksandrovna Kostetskaya (; born 31 December 1986) is a Russian track athlete. She came fifth in the 800 m final at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, but was later disqualified for doping. Kostetskaya met Australian pole va ...

gave birth to their first son, Maxim, in 2013, and the couple have since had two more sons.

Honours

In the

2009 Australia Day Honours The 2009 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2009 by the Governor General of Australia, Quentin Bryce. The Australia ...

, Steve Hooker was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

(OAM) "For service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games"."For service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games"
, ''It's an Honour'', 26 January 2009. Retrieved 21 October 2013. In October 2017, Hooker was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

as an athlete member.

Personal life

Hooker attended Greythorn Primary School and

Balwyn High School Balwyn High School is a state-run high school (years 7–12) in the Melbourne suburb of North Balwyn, in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1954. As of February 2013, it had 1948 students, making it the fourth large ...

Balwyn North, Victoria Balwyn North, also known as North Balwyn, is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 10 km east of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the Cities of City of Boroondara, Bor ...

. His mother Erica Hooker was a 1972 Olympian and a

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, from 3 to 12 August, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics was held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with a ...

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

silver medalist. She also won nine national titles. His father Bill represented Australia in the 800 m and 4 x 400 m at the

1974 Commonwealth Games The 1974 British Commonwealth Games () were held in Christchurch, New Zealand, from 24 January to 2 February 1974. The bid vote was held in Edinburgh at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. The event was officially named "the friendly games". T ...

and won four national crowns. He began his career with the Box Hill Athletic Club. His career started slowly, and he only went professional in 2006. He relocated to Perth, living on a very modest

Australian Sports Commission The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government commission responsible for supporting and investing in sport in Australia. The Commission incorporates the Australian Institute of Sport. From 2018 to 2022, it was known as S ...

allowance. Steven Hooker Berlin 2009

Summary of athletic achievements

References

External links