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Hooker bags easy gold, criticises scheduling

Olympic champion Steve Hooker won the men's pole vault gold with ease on Monday and said the timing of the CWG had put many other top athletes off attending.

Updated on: Oct 12, 2010, 24:33:55 IST
Reuters | By , New Delhi
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Olympic champion Steve Hooker won the men's pole vault gold with ease on Monday and said the timing of the CWG had put many other top athletes off attending.

HT Image
HT Image

The Australian entered the competition only after the bar, initially set at 4.80 metres, was raised to 5.50 and took the gold without breaking a sweat.

He abandoned an attempt to better his own Games record of 5.80. "It's nice to jump high but today was not the day for that," the Beijing Olympic gold medallist said after clearing 5.60 metres to defend his title at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

"It was always going to be tough and I am very happy to get those two good jumps."

The late scheduling of the Delhi Games discouraged many athletes and Hooker, one of the few world and Olympic champions competing in Delhi, said the timing was far from ideal.

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