Australia&rsquo;s 2009 world and 2008 Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker reflects on this image taken when he and Renaud Lavillenie are set to share an embrace at the end of a titanic battle at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup in Split, Croatia.
&ldquo;This is one of my favourite images from my career. It was probably the first time where both Renaud and I jumped well at the same meeting. We&rsquo;d enjoyed a good, tough competition in which I won with 5.95m, five centimetres ahead of Renaud.
&ldquo;My 2010 season was one of the longest of my career. I had won the world indoor title in Doha in March but then picked up a knee injury in my take-off leg and struggled for form during the Diamond League campaign. I managed to return to form for the Continental Cup before competing twice more - ending the season in October with gold at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. It had been a long year, which had taken its toll both physically and mentally but winning the Continental Cup and beating Renaud in a big global competition was the highlight.
&ldquo;For much of that European season I had struggled, but I have a sneaky little story as to how I had managed to turn things around at the Continental Cup. I had arrived in Split not feeling too great when I saw the Canadian chiropractor Gerry Ramogida working with the European squad. I&rsquo;d built up a relationship with Gerry over time on the circuit, so I asked him if he wouldn&rsquo;t mind treating me. He worked on me for 15 minutes and as soon as I got off the treatment table for the first time that season I felt good. I don&rsquo;t know what Gerry had done but I felt like my old self again. It really does show the value of being treated by a good therapist.
&ldquo;It took me a while to find my rhythm that day but once I did, it felt like I was attacking the jumps. I recall missing out on 5.85m at my first attempt and then passing after Renaud cleared that height. We both then cleared 5.90m with our first attempt before I managed to make it over 5.95m with my third effort. It was such a big relief that I still had a big jump in me. It was probably the last big jump of my career.
&ldquo;I still have an image of that 5.95m clearance hanging up on the wall of my wife&rsquo;s house and the kids still look at the picture.
&ldquo;In a wider sense, I have other great memories of that competition. I was the Asia-Pacific team captain and I remember giving a motivational speech to the team. It was pretty clear the battle would be between the Americas and Europe and our aim was to shoot for third place and beat Africa &ndash; which we very nearly did (just two-and-a-half points separated third placed Africa from Asia-Pacific in fourth).
&ldquo;I also got involved in team selection and encouraged Olga Rypakova who had won the triple jump to compete in the long jump because we (Asia-Pacific) only had one jumper. Olga went on to finish third in the long jump and scored good points for the team.
&ldquo;I also recall the post-competition celebrations on the beach in Split - which will go down as one of the great after-parties. It was the end of a long European season and all the athletes were up for a party!&rdquo;
Steve Landells for the IAAF

Australia’s 2009 world and 2008 Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker reflects on this image taken when he and Renaud Lavillenie are set to share an embrace at the end of a titanic battle at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup in Split, Croatia.

Steve Hooker’s story behind the picture

Australia’s greatest ever pole vaulter Steve Hooker has called time on his outstanding athletics career and announced his retirement on Saturday (12).Now 31, Hooker won three global titles during his time at the top; gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games, 2009 IAAF World Championships and 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships.Hooker holds the Oceania Area and Australian pole vault record with 6.06m, a height he cleared indoors in Boston in 2009. He had five competitions at 6.00m or higher, all in his heyday between 2008 and 2010.However, he has battled with injuries in recent years.“I think this decision began last year on my birthday (16 July) when I was doing a vault session that didn’t go well,” reflected Hooker.“I had a long chat with my coach Dan (Pfaff) and he gave me the freedom to take a break and assess whether it was something I wanted to continue. I came back to Australia and have been fortunate enough to be involved with a lot of things that have brought me great enjoyment and in many ways I haven’t had an urge to go back to vaulting.“This made it clear that I needed to decide what the future would be, and after some serious thought I’ve decided to move onto the next phase of my life and focus on new things that bring me as much joy as athletics has for the past 15 or so years.”Hooker brought the curtain down on his career on Saturday with a couple of valedictory races, a 200m and a leg of the 4x100m, for his club Box Hill on home soil at the Athletics Victoria Shield Final in Melbourne.“After I run today I will effectively be retired from all forms of athletics and I Iook forward to the next chapter of my life with my family and friends,” Hooker said.“I think in a lot of ways I have been holding out for a happy ending to my jumping that delivered a great result to finish on. I have come to terms with the fact that this perhaps wasn’t possible,” Hooker said.“I now know that it is humbling to finish under circumstances that perhaps weren’t expected rather than on a massive high. It is more symbolic of my battles as an athlete across the years, because it has been a challenge at times and it was the difficulty and unpredictability of the pole vault that initially drew me to it.”&nbsp;Hooker has now established a base for his young family in Melbourne, as a new father to son Maxim and husband to fellow athlete and middle-distance runner Yekaterina Kostetskaya. “Family is my biggest priority now. Being a husband and a father is amazing, and I love the change from being an individual athlete with just me to worry about,” he added.“I can now spend time supporting Katya in achieving what she wants in her career. She has done so much already but she has results that suggest she is more than capable of doing more and I want to be able to assist as much as I can in making that happen.“I have a passion for developing athletes and I want to make sure that I stay involved with the sport to ensure that as many young athletes as possible are afforded the chance to reach their potential. I have learnt a lot in my time and I want to share that with those that are trying to emulate what I have. My experiences have been immense and I think it is vital that those athletes finishing up share that knowledge with those coming through.”Athletics Australia President David Grace QC extended his congratulations on Hooker’s great achievements and encouraged him to remain active within the sport.“The name Steve Hooker is synonymous with athletics in this country, but more than that it is synonymous with sportsmanship, hard work, dedication and unrivalled commitment to achieving what you set out to. I congratulate him on a stunning career and wish him every success in the future,” said Grace.Athletics Australia for the IAAF

Australia’s greatest ever pole vaulter Steve Hooker has called time on his outstanding athletics career and announced his retirement on Saturday (12).

Australian pole vault star Steve Hooker retires 

The 11th episode of IAAF Inside Athletics is available to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201150892720911" target="_blank">watch online now</a>.This week's episode includes an exclusive interview with 2008 Olympic and 2009 world pole vault champion Steve Hooker.<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_r3NfGMn5gg?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0" width="500"></iframe>Launched earlier this year, IAAF Inside Athletics is hosted by Trinidad &amp; Tobago&rsquo;s 1997 World 200m champion Ato Boldon, who is now a respected television broadcast analyst for ESPN and NBC.Exclusive to the IAAF, the show appears on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/WorldAthleticsClub" target="_blank">IAAF World Athletics Club Facebook page</a>.Fans can interact and ask questions, either on Facebook or by sending an email to: <a href="mailto:insideathletics@iaaf.org" target="_blank">insideathletics@iaaf.org</a>.If you enjoyed any of the previous episodes of IAAF Inside Athletics, then click &lsquo;like&rsquo; on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/WorldAthleticsClub" target="_blank">IAAF World Athletics Club on Facebook</a>.IAAF

IAAF Inside Athletics – episode 11 online now

Steve Hooker’s story behind the picture

Australian pole vault star Steve Hooker retires

IAAF Inside Athletics – Steve Hooker