NEW YORK — Olympic gold medalist Steven Hooker of Australia came up short of breaking the world indoor record in the pole vault in winning at the 102nd Millrose Games on Friday night.
Hooker missed on three attempts at 20 feet, 2½ inches. Pole vault great Sergei Bubka has held the mark of 20-2 since 1993.
Hooker still set a personal best by clearing 19-8½, and he accomplished it despite doing just one complete pole vault in preparation for the meet. He bruised the side of his knee when he broke a pole at a practice competition in Perth, Australia, about four weeks ago.
“He’s the benchmark in pole vault, and that’s the first time I’ve ever put the bar up to his world record,” Hooker said of Bubka. “That’s the first time I’ve felt what it’s like to be attempting a height like that. And that’s a good experience, particularly the first meet of the year. Hopefully, I get a few more shots at it in the coming weeks.”
American Derek Miles, who finished fourth at the Olympics, was the runner-up, clearing 18-8¼.
Hooker can run and jump without pain — decelerating is the only thing that hurts. So on his practice runs, he would roll onto the mat at the end instead of slowing down.
“To come out here and jump a personal best is a bit of surprise,” he said. “To have such good jumps at the world record is also quite surprising, but very exciting.”
Kara Goucher, who posted the fastest marathon debut ever by an American woman in New York in November, dropped all the way down to the mile for the second straight year at Millrose. She defended her title, winning in a personal best 4 minutes, 33.19 seconds as she worked on her speed as she prepares for the Boston Marathon in April.
“The mile tells me that I’m not doing too much,” she said of her training.
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