STEVE Hooker won the first athletics gold medal by an Australian male in 40 years when he soared over 5.90m in the pole vault on Friday night.
Five times, Hooker had a chance to clinch the gold after his opponent Yevgeniy Lukyanenko of Russia jumping before the Australian missed. Four times he looked the gift horse in the mouth. On the fifth, he clinched it.
Earlier, Hooker made 5.80m at his third attempt in a clutch jump, having opened at 5.60m and passed 5.70m. Had he missed, he would have been sixth.
At 5.85m, he cleared on the last attempt, too, to finally draw level with Lukyanenko.
Then it was simple, a straight-out man-on-man duel. Whoever cleared 5.90m would win. Hooker did.
''In the end it was good I was doing all the third attempt jumps, because I was knocking all the nervous energy out,'' Hooker said. ''I started to jump technically well and that's what got me through in the end.''
However at 5.85m he thought his Olympic dream was dashed. ''I count my lucky stars that I cleared that.''
Before his successful gold medal attempts at 5.90m he took in the moment.
''I took a moment before jumping at 5.90[m] and I just sat back and realised I was doing something that every kid dreams of,'' Hooker said.
''I had my destiny in my own hands. Yvgeniy was out of the competition, if I clear that bar I'm an Olympic gold medallist and I did think I was the kind of person that could stand up and take that sort of opportunity on, to have done it is a dream come true.''
Like the men's 100m, the contest had promised a match in three between the men to have cleared 6m this year - Brad Walker of the USA (6.04m), Lukyanenko (6.01m) and Hooker (6.00m).
As in the 100m, one of the big three failed to reach the final, Walker surprisingly going out in the drawn-out qualifying competition on Wednesday night.
With the bar at 5.90m, Lukyanenko was up first as the stadium still bubbled from Jamaica's world record win in the men's sprint relay. The Russian missed three times.
Hooker missed twice, then took another pole. He came down the runway, planted, soared, cleared and Australia's first men's pole vault medal was golden.
Hooker then cleared 5.96m, breaking the previous Olympic record of 5.95m set by American Tim Mack at the Athens Games.
At 5.85m, it had become a straight-out duel, after both cleared at the third attempt. Whichever man jumped a height from there would likely be the gold medallist.
They both missed first time. Hooker, taking his fourth jump in a short time, was very close.
Lukyanenko missed again and for a second time Hooker missed a chance to take the lead. Lukyanenko cleared on the third attempt, a clutch jump which forced the Australian to jump higher.
Hooker took his final jump at the same height, clearing it but still trailed on countback. He was backing himself to clear another height and hoping Lukyanenko could not.
As the bar went to 5.80m, Denys Yurchenko of Ukraine could jump no more, but remained in the bronze medal position.
Derek Miles of the USA and Dmitry Starodubtsev, both missed. It was then Lukyaneneko's turn.
As with the opening height, this was Hooker's cue to start warming up. He needed to be loose, as the Russian sailed over first time.
Hooker was next. He got the height, but took off too far out from the uprights and came down on the bar.
He had to get a higher height to get a medal, but missed again on his second try. Yurchenko was sitting in second position, having cleared 5.70m first time, and unable to vault again. For Hooker the choice was to clear and ensure a medal, or miss and finish sixth.
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