Steve Hooker

Steven Leslie Hooker OAM (born 16 July 1982) is an Australian former pole vaulter and Olympic gold medalist. His personal best, achieved in 2008, is making him the fourth-highest pole vaulter in history, behind Sergey Bubka, Renaud Lavillenie and Armand Duplantis.

Hooker was born in Melbourne, Victoria, and has a personal best of 10.82 s in 100 m as an amateur sprinter. He ran in the 2010 Stawell Gift.

Career
Hooker won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with a vault of 5.96 metres, setting a new Olympic record, and making him the first Australian male track and field gold medallist in 40 years since Ralph Doubell won the 800 metres in Mexico City in 1968.

At the 2009 World Athletics Championships, 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, Hooker won the gold medal in the pole vault with a vault of 6.01 metres, a championship record.

At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Hooker won the gold medal in the pole vault.

Hooker competed at the 2012 London Olympics 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 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 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, Steve Hooker was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) "For service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games". In October 2017, Hooker was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame as an athlete member.

Personal life
Hooker attended Greythorn Primary School and Balwyn High School in Balwyn North, Victoria.

His mother Erica Hooker was a 1972 Olympian and a 1978 Commonwealth Games long jump 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 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 allowance.