| A second Australian (after Markov in 2001) defied a painful injury to become world champion. Reigning champion Walker scratched because of a hip injury, and Olympic Champion Hooker was suffering from injuries to his knee and thigh. A pain-killing injection enabled the Australian to take one jump in the qualifying round, after which he rose slowly from the landing bed clearly in great pain. Eleven athletes including Hooker cleared 5.65, and four first-time clearers at 5.55 also advanced. Nine men cleared 5.65 in the final. At 5.75 only Mazuryk and Gripich cleared first time. Dossévi got over 5.75 second time, and Lavillenie, who had cleared 6.01 in the European Cup in June, made the height on his third jump. Mesnil – who passed to 5.80 after a failure at 5.75 – then cleared 5.80 on his first try to move into the lead ahead of Lavillenie, who also cleared first time. The gold and silver seemed set, but Hooker then appeared. After one failure at 5.85, the Aussie moved to 5.90 because Mesnil had cleared 5.85 on his first try. Remarkably Hooker got over 5.90 to win, because both he and the Frenchman failed at 5.95. He had won the world title with just two jumps, whereas his Olympic gold of 2008 had been earned after 10 such efforts in the final. “Today was the hardest day of my life,” concluded Hooker, who admitted it had been a risk to come in at 5.85 but felt grateful for the 56 hours of rest he’d had since the qualifying round. |
