Brian Roger Leslie Hooper (born 18 May 1953) in

Sheerwater __NOTOC__ Sheerwater is a residential neighbourhood or small suburb of Woking, in the Woking district in Surrey, England, occasionally described as a village, between West Byfleet and Horsell. Its border is defined to the north by a gently windin ...

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

, Surrey is a former British Olympic

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. Pole jumping competitions were known to the My ...

er, athletics coach and winner of the 1982 World Superstars Championship.

Athletics

Hooper was the UK's top 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 President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...

for the England team in

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New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

and the

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

, representing

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anc ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. In 1986 he represented

for the third time at a Commonwealth Games, at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. He won the 1980 Men's AAA / UK Championships pole vault title, setting his personal best height of 5.59m in the same year, which was then the United Kingdom Men's Pole Vault record. Hooper also held the United Kingdom Masters (Veterans) Pole Vault best performance record, with a leap of 5.01 metres in 1994. He is the current holder of the over-40s age group pole vault record.

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 Brian "Budgie" Budd (April 8, 1952 – June 11, 2008) was a Canadian professional soccer player best known for winning the '' World Superstars'' competition three years in a row from 1978 to 1980. He was also a soccer sportscaster. Early year ...

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 facin ...

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 The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. Both the apparatus and the event are sometimes simply referred to as "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring i ...

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 th ...

– 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

Personal life

Hooper currently lives in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest 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 name "Guildf ...

, Surrey and is a personal fitness coach. In the 1970s he was an athletics coach at

George Abbot School George Abbot School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Burpham, north-east of the town centre of Guildford providing a comprehensive education, for around 2,000 young people, aged 11–18. History The ...

. 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.

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 Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics 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