Pogo Stick wrote:
I hope he's not. His jumps were well over bar, even at 5.71. They had strong wind and pretty cold weather.
Toby had problems with running and looks slow. Maybe is just one bad day, but other guys looks much better.
Stensol wrote:No, Hooker's just fine. There were swirling winds, plus a bit of rain. Jeng got off the ground once, not completing his jump; Hooker also ran through about 3-4 times. Of the jumps they showed on TV, the favorites all seemed to be using the usual long runs, high grips, and stiff poles--a number of bailed jumps and a bunch of coming down on the bar. It just didn't seem that anyone was adjusting enough for the conditions. Having a lot to prove in front of his countrymen--especially after being selected to Sweden's WC team after a poor season so far--Fritz jumped his seasonal best and remarked that he was pretty amped for this competition.
Hooker was interviewed on TV, where he blamed the conditions for his performance (personally, I didn't think he looked very focused at all). He stated that he was still pleased with his jumping anyway, saying that he got off some decent jumps in crappy conditions. One of the announcers (Anders Gärderud) went on to question why vaulters don't seem to train enough in adverse conditions. Another announcer related that the conditions weren't so great in Helsinki at the 2005 World Champs either, where Rens Blom won. The story was that Blom apparently went on to say something to the effect that while other vaulters complained about the winds in Helsinki, he was used to training in such conditions in the Netherlands.
If the weather's poor in Berlin in the WC qualifying and/or final, I wonder which vaulters this might favor?
Good to hear that he's okay, unfortunately I wasn't able to see the competition. Sad to hear about Toby's performance, hopefully this is just a little hitch on his way back up - he had a great result at nationals. Hooker has shown lapses of concentration at critical times in the past before his Beijing victory, hopefully he keeps his head straight because he's shown that he's almost unstoppable even in clutch situations when he's tuned in. In all chances though it was just the weather.
Speaking of weather, I'm not too sure who I'd put my money on in conditions like these. If it was sweltering hot I would put my money on Hooker, Aussies should be used to rubber-melting temperatures haha! Regardless, unless Walker and Hooker really start clicking, I think the Frenchman has a very good chance at winning. But again, nobody is really dominating right now so anybody can step up to the plate on the day.