Brad Walker (born June 21, 1981 in

Aberdeen, South Dakota Aberdeen () is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 28,495. making it the third-most populous city in the state. Aberdeen is home of Northern State University. ...

) is an American

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. He was the American recordholder and was the 2007 World Champion in the event.

Collegiate and professional career

Walker attended the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, where he was a member of

Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Phi Gam and sometimes written as FIJI, is a North American social fraternity with 139 active chapters and 13 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania ...

fraternity. While there, he became

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

indoor pole vault champion twice and four-time NCAA All-American under Coach Pat Licari. In 2005 he became both indoor and outdoor National Champion. Perhaps not among the favorites in the 2005 World Championships, Walker nonetheless won the silver medal with 5.75. Two weeks later in

Rieti Rieti (; , Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina region. T ...

he set a new personal best of 5.96. In 2006 he won the World Indoor Championships in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

with a jump of 5.80meters. In July 2006, at

Jockgrim Jockgrim is a municipality in the Germersheim (district), district of Germersheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approximately 15 km north-west of Karlsruhe. Jockgrim is the seat of the ''Ver ...

, Germany, Brad Walker, cleared 6 meters, the best performance of the year, in a pole vault competition. He won the gold in the world championships on September 1, 2007. On June 8, 2008 Walker jumped in

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

to a new personal and American record with 6.04. Walker qualified for the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

, but failed to clear a height in the preliminary rounds. Walker retained his US championship title in 2009, even though his status as reigning World Champion gave him a bye into the

2009 World Championships in Athletics 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 Brandenbu ...

. At the

2012 Summer 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 ...

, Walker reached the final but finished 12th with a 5.50m vault.

References

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External links

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Flotrack.com Video Interview of Brad Walker during the 100th Millrose Games
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Brad 1981 births Living people American male pole vaulters People from Aberdeen, South Dakota Track and field athletes from South Dakota Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Washington Huskies men's track and field athletes World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Sportspeople from Aberdeen, South Dakota Australian Athletics Championships winners NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners 21st-century American sportsmen

Collegiate and professional career

See also

References

External links