What an outstanding performance by Steve Hooker ...  I am so happy for him! He didn't have it easy - having so many clearances on his third attempt. He was under lots of physical, mental and emotional pressure and he handled it beautifully. It was certainly nerve wracking to watch and from my experience in any competition like this it is very difficult and demanding to keep performing when the pressure is on.

Steve always looked the strongest on the track. He has a great pedigree with both his parents having been very good athletes and he is working with a very good coach - Alex Parnov.  I have noticed over the past few years he has matured as an athlete and he certainly came into this competition ready for a medal.

Based on this season he was one of three favourites coming in, but as the main favourite Brad Walker proved, when he failed to qualify, the pressure of favouritism doesn't always work for you. Steve's performance in the circumstances was unbelievable!! To win the competition with his third attempt at 5.90 was great enough ... but then to go on to 5.96 and walk away with the Games record shows what a great athlete he has become.

This was a truly great result for Australia, for the sport of track and field and for pole vault in this country. I hope this result will give the vault another boost as we have some great talent in Australia and hopefully they will be inspired to follow in Steve's footsteps.

I am very happy for him - not only did he compete very well but he also handled the whole night beautifully and capped it off with a great interview.

What more can I say? Outstanding Performance - Great Result - Well Done Steve - a very worthy Olympic champion.

Well the Games are almost over and this result is just what the team especially the track and field team needed. We had two silvers and a bronze ... now we have the full set gold, silver and bronze, plus 8^th ranking in the track and field medal tally.

And tonight, will we see another medal from the Men's 4x400m team? They surprised us all in Athens with their silver and with 3 of the Athens Silver Bullets in the team for tonight's final, they just might do it again!

I hope so.

T.