Hall- of- fame vaulter reveals high spots of career

THE Olympic gold medal in Beijing and a world title won on one leg a year later in Berlin are the obvious career highlights for Steve Hooker.

But the pole- vault champio on ( pictured) throws an offBroadway event into the top three when asked about his s special moments.

“The night I qualified for L London in 2012, that was in terms of feeling really good, that was a big one,” he said.

The specially sanctioned event was held in an abandoned railway warehouse in Perth that had been transformed into a state- of- the- art training facility.

Hooker had been struck by a crippling case of the yips the previous year and was struggling to qualify for London.

Time was running out for him to defend his crown, but he cleared the required 5.72m in his second attempt.

“That was the worst time leading into that competition,” Hooker said.

“But that night, with all my mates, it was just an awesome night and meant a lot to me.”

Tomorrow night Hooker is being inducted into the Sports Australia Hall of Fame and he’s using the dinner to thank those who helped him reach the pinnacle of world sport.

On his table will be his first coach Mark Stewart; Alex Parnov, who took him to Olympic glory; long- time agent Maurie Plant; parents Erica and Bill, both former Australian athletics representatives; and wife Ekaterina Kostetskaya, the former Russian middle- distance runner, whom he met at the 2008 Beijing Games.

“Now that I’m finished, you look back and think how lucky you were. You think about how important these people were, they gave you the opportunity,” Hooker said.

For a four- year stretch Hooker dominated his event.

He would become one of the few to simultaneously hold the Olympic, indoor and outdoor world championships, Commonwealth Games and world cup titles.

Following the gold in Beijing, Hooker lost just twice over the next 20 months.