Brian Roger Leslie Hooper (born 18 May 1953) is a British 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, who competed at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

and the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

. He was the winner of the 1982 World Superstars Championship.

Biography

In the 1970s Hooper was an athletics coach at George Abbot School. Hooper was the United Kingdom's leading pole vaulter from 1974 to 1980, competing in two Olympic Games, two European Athletics Championships and winning the bronze medal at both the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

for the England team in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand and the

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 ...

, representing

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Canada. In 1986 he represented

for the third time at a Commonwealth Games, at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland. Hooper became the British pole vault champion after winning the British

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

title at the 1973 AAA Championships. and although he only won the AAA title outright twice more in 1980 and 1986, he was considered the British champion by virtue of being the highest placed British athlete in 1974, 1976, 1977 and 1978. During the 1980 AAAs he set his personal best height of 5.59m, which was then the United Kingdom pole vault record. Additionally he also won the 1979 UK Athletics Championships title. Hooper also held the United Kingdom masters (veterans) pole vault best performance record, with a leap of 5.01 metres in 1994 and set the over-40s age group pole vault record. Hooper currently lives in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

, Surrey and is a personal fitness coach. He is separated and has one daughter, Tilly, who is also a pole vaulter who has competed in competitions including winning gold at the 2018 BUCS indoor national championships.

Superstars

Hooper is the second most successful Superstars competitor ever, winning six titles, including becoming the only European to win the World Championship in 1982. He was only defeated in two events (his 1982 and 2004 UK heats), and is the only man to have won three International Superstars titles. Only three times World Superstars Champion Brian Budd managed to remain undefeated in all contests. In 2004 (aged 50) he participated in the UK Championship again, and performed well finishing a very creditable fourth in his heat, winning the

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

event, and finishing runner-up in the golf. During the 2004 event he was at least 15 years older than all of the other competitors, competed with a torn pectoral muscle and was included in the event as a replacement at only seven day's notice. Hooper also regularly competed in the Superteams version of the contest, representing "the Athletes", who were undefeated from 1979 to 1984. In 1979 he famously struggled to get on a balance beam during the

obstacle course An obstacle course is a series of challenging physical obstacles an individual, team or animal must navigate, usually while being timed. Obstacle courses can include running, climbing, jumping, crawling, swimming, and balancing elements with the ...

– almost costing his team the event – while disoriented after completing the sit-ups part of the race. In the years later, Hooper became one of the top British competitors in the obstacle course, regularly leaping the high wall in one stride.

Superstars record

Achievements

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Brian 1953 births Living people Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Woking English male pole vaulters British male pole vaulters Athletes (track and field) at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics