Reigning Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker has qualified for London in an abandoned railway warehouse in the outer suburbs of Perth. Picture: Phil Hillyard Source: The Courier-Mail

REIGNING Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker will get a chance to defend his crown after qualifying for London in an abandoned railway warehouse in the outer suburbs of Perth on Friday night.

Chasing an Olympic qualifying mark of 5.72m, Hooker cleared the height on his second attempt.
Hooker petitioned to have a special event sanctioned by Athletics WA in his exclusive training facility at the Midland Railway Workshops, established early last year by the athlete's sponsor Red Bull.
The state body's backing meant any results cleared at the meet would be officially recognised by international body the IAAF and would count towards Olympic selection.
It offered Hooker his best opportunity to clear the elusive 5.72m mark that had escaped him the past year since the champion vaulter developed a severe case of the yips.
Hooker withdrew from all domestic competition earlier this year and tonight's meet was his first off a full run-up since he no-heighted at the 2011 World Championships in South Korea last August.
The 2009 world champion entered the competition with the bar set at 5.32m and sailed over the height with ease on his first attempt.
The crowd was on the edge of its seat as he faltered on his first shot at 5.52m, before overcoming that mark also and blitzing the following 5.62m on the first go.
Then it was time for the one that mattered - the one that everyone truly came to see - and Hooker proved he was back, sailing clear before regaining his feet and letting out a victory scream once he hit the mats.
Hooker rocketed to fame when he ended a 60-year Olympic field drought for Australia by claiming the Beijing crown with an Olympic record clearance of 5.96m and he later went on to claim the 2009 world championships, the 2010 world indoor title, the 2010 Continental Cup and the 2010 Commonwealth Games crown.
In one of the more unique athletics events ever seen in WA, Hooker's fellow vaulters, 18-year-old Victorian Brodie Cross and Blake Lucas, cleared 4.82m and 5.02 respectively.
Hooker, who became the second-highest vaulter in history with a 6.06m clearance in Boston in 2009, next tackles the Diamond League leg in Shanghai, with meets in Rome, Munich, Olso and Lillee possibly to follow.
Alana Boyd and Liz Parnov opened the night, with Boyd, who moved to WA from Queensland towards the end of 2009 in order to train among the impressive stable of WA Institute of Sport coach Alex Parnov, the clear favourite of the two women.
But the 2010 Commonwealth Champion holder exited first on 4.12m, with Parnov cruising on to clear 4.22m.
The pair's results were far below their best - Boyd set a new Australian record of 4.76m in Perth in February in the same meet Parnov hit 4.50m - but both were operating off shortened run-ups.
The doors of the private facility were opened to the media last month, but its second unveiling was far more dramatic earlier in the night for the about 150 VIP guests, who covered a wide scope from WA Institute of Sport chairman Grant Boyce to Fremantle midfielder Ryan Crowley.
Event organisers parted the gates as the crowd gathered around, revealing a runway snaking into a pitch-black warehouse.
The soundtrack of a train clicking along its rails began beating through the speakers and spotlights began snapping on in time with synthesised bass pulses, eventually revealing the iconic red and blue pole vault pads, with dusty yellow Red Bull rulers climbing up the sides.


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