Sep 30, 2007, 02:02
I was asked to take some photos of a few of our Pole Vaulters during their preparation for the recent IAAF Athletics World Championships.
We are lucky enough to be the home of some fantastic Pole Vault talent here in Perth. Most notably Steve Hooker and Paul Burgess who are ranked #1 and #2 in the world respectively, but also Kym Howe (ranked #8 in the world) and Vicki Parnov who, although "only" ranked #60 in the world, was Australia's youngest ever representative at a World Championships having just turned 16. Vicki also happens to be the daughter of Alex Parnov, who is regarded as the world's best Pole Vault coach and is the main reason why WA has been producing world championship Pole Vaulters over the last number of years (this current crop are not his first world champions since he moved to Perth).
Anyway, leading up to the world championships, Perth was subjected to weeks of continuous rain - to the point where the Pole Vaulters simply couldn't train at their usual location at Perry Lakes Stadium.
Luckily the kind people just up the road at Challenge Stadium allowed them to set up right beside one of their 50m swimming pools (in fact it was the main pool used for the 1998 World Swimming championships and also where I shot the 2006 Commonwealth Water Polo Champs) so the athletes could train indoors until leaving for the world champs.
I was asked to take some photos for the athletes to sign and frame to give to the staff at Challenge to say thanks for letting them use their facilities.
1. From left to right: Steve Hooker, Kym Howe, Vicki Parnov, and Paul Burgess.
2. Warming Up.
3. Kym during her warm-up.
4. Steve jumping with me crouching down at the side of the mat - shot at 10mm!
5. Vicki taking off.
6. Vicki during the same jump, passing over the bar.
The bad news however was that none of the four athletes performed at their best during the World Champs. I'm not sure what happened during the Women's event, but I know that during the Men's event the weather conditions changed dramatically half-way through which ruined the chances of quite a few of the top competitors who had been "passing" on the lower heights, including Steve and perhaps Paul. I guess tactics can sometimes backfire.
Hopefully the experience will spur them to work harder and not make the same mistakes at the Olympics next year.
We are lucky enough to be the home of some fantastic Pole Vault talent here in Perth. Most notably Steve Hooker and Paul Burgess who are ranked #1 and #2 in the world respectively, but also Kym Howe (ranked #8 in the world) and Vicki Parnov who, although "only" ranked #60 in the world, was Australia's youngest ever representative at a World Championships having just turned 16. Vicki also happens to be the daughter of Alex Parnov, who is regarded as the world's best Pole Vault coach and is the main reason why WA has been producing world championship Pole Vaulters over the last number of years (this current crop are not his first world champions since he moved to Perth).
Anyway, leading up to the world championships, Perth was subjected to weeks of continuous rain - to the point where the Pole Vaulters simply couldn't train at their usual location at Perry Lakes Stadium.
Luckily the kind people just up the road at Challenge Stadium allowed them to set up right beside one of their 50m swimming pools (in fact it was the main pool used for the 1998 World Swimming championships and also where I shot the 2006 Commonwealth Water Polo Champs) so the athletes could train indoors until leaving for the world champs.
I was asked to take some photos for the athletes to sign and frame to give to the staff at Challenge to say thanks for letting them use their facilities.
1. From left to right: Steve Hooker, Kym Howe, Vicki Parnov, and Paul Burgess.
2. Warming Up.
3. Kym during her warm-up.
4. Steve jumping with me crouching down at the side of the mat - shot at 10mm!
5. Vicki taking off.
6. Vicki during the same jump, passing over the bar.
The bad news however was that none of the four athletes performed at their best during the World Champs. I'm not sure what happened during the Women's event, but I know that during the Men's event the weather conditions changed dramatically half-way through which ruined the chances of quite a few of the top competitors who had been "passing" on the lower heights, including Steve and perhaps Paul. I guess tactics can sometimes backfire.
Hopefully the experience will spur them to work harder and not make the same mistakes at the Olympics next year.
Adrian Broughton
My Website: www.BroughtonPhoto.com.au
My Blog: blog.BroughtonPhoto.com.au
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"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." - Einstein.