Athletics: Hooker bombs, Kenyans triumph

DAEGU:

Defending pole vault champion Steve Hooker bombed out of the world championships in deflating fashion, while Edna Kiplagat led Kenya to a historic clean sweep in the women’s marathon.

Injury-wracked Hooker did not register a mark in the pole vault competition after failing three times to even muster a vault at 5.5m during qualification. “I felt fine physically but I felt kind of lost on the runway,” said Hooker. Meanwhile, Kiplagat claimed the first gold of the championships as she led a Kenyan sweep in the marathon event, with Priscah Jeptoo and Sharon Cherop taking silver and bronze medals to get their country off to a fantastic start.



Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2011.