Recensie: Steve Hooker - The Old Testament Of Love
Recensie: Steve Hooker - The Old Testament Of Love // @steve_hooker_
Steve Hooker – The Old Testament Of Love
Format: CD / Label: Pimphouse Records
Releasedatum: 2019
Op 6 maart a.s. speelt de Britse gitaristSteve Hooker met zijn Stripped Down Stompin’ Band in de Amsterdamse club Maloe Meloe. En dat concert is aan te raden voor de fans van ongepolijste rauwe rhythm & blues, die in het straatje van Dr. Feelgood zit.
En dat laatste is niet zo verwonderlijk want Steve…
Australian teenager Kurtis Marschall narrowly misses out on Rio pole vault final
Australian teenager Kurtis Marschall narrowly misses out on Rio pole vault final
Rio de Janeiro: Kurtis Marschall speaks with the youthful exuberance and endearing language of a teenager. It’s probably because he is one. But the South Australian – who won’t turn 20 until Anzac Day next year – nearly achieved something very few Australian teenagers do: make an Olympic final.
Marschall cleared 5.60m on Saturday night (Brazil time) at the Estadio Olimpico to finish 15th in the…
Australian Olympian Steve Hooker in town for Simplot Games
Australian Olympian Steve Hooker in town for Simplot Games
POCATELLO — About 360 athletes, dignitaries and Olympians came out Friday for Breakfast with Fosbury and Friends, now a tradition during the annual Simplot Games held in Holt Arena on the Idaho State University campus.
Currently in its 38th year, director Lisa Woodland said 2,165 athletes from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Australia enrolled in the track and field event, which kicked off…
New Post has been published on http://www.thepeptalk.com.au/the-pole-vaulting-ginger-ninja-retires/
The Pole Vaulting Ginger Ninja Retires
Steve Hooker, quite possibly the greatest ever ‘natural’ redhead to represent Australia at the Olympics has retired overnight.
Hooker will be remembered for his Michael Bolton like hair and natural charisma that hooked (no pun intended) a nation, especially during the 2008 Beijing Olympics where he won a gold medal.
Hooker said it wasn’t his body that let him down but his mind that finally couldn’t take the rigors of a professional sportsman and it was time to hang up the pole.
Every Australian remembers where they were the night Hooker won his gold medal (I was on the couch), cheering him to victory in the stadium known as the ‘Birds Nest’ and cementing his place in Australian history (see video below)
Where do you place Steve Hooker in the list of Australia‘s Greatest Sportsmen? Leave your opinion below in the Comments section.
SPIKES is a sucker for cool pieces of kit, so when we heard the Fly Swat was the largest piece of mobile athletics equipment in the world, we just had to find out what all the fuss was about.
Okay, so what is the Fly Swat?
Weighing in at a hefty 25 tonnes (roughly equivalent to two full double decker buses) and measuring a little over 72m long, with a 50m runway, it has a long jump pit attached to one end and a pole vault bed at the other. It’s used as the ‘track’ for the Golden Fly Series: a five-strong series of competitions held in city centre venues.
Who do we have to thank?
The Fly Swat was the brainchild of Armin Margreiter, the former Austrian long and triple jump national coach. “I am the inventor,” says Margreiter. “I thought of the concept. My guys always did their best but often had to compete in empty stadiums. It was very frustrating for me as well as them, so I decided to build a mobile track for them.”
Why the focus on pole vault and long jump?
“To me, pole vault is like modern circus and is the most spectacular event for the people to watch,” says Margreiter. “The long jump also demonstrates the speed and athleticism of the athletes.”
The track has the scope to be extended into a 100m track and Margreiter has a long-term vision. “One day I’d love to have Usain Bolt run on the Fly Swat”.
Did you say 25 tonnes!? How do you even move the Fly Swat around?
Stored in Innsbruck, it is transported by train from each venue. “The track can then be laid down by our crew and with the help of volunteers within six to seven hours.”
So where can I see it in action?
The season opener of the second-ever Golden Fly Series takes place in Innsbruck on June 1st followed by meetings in Munich, Cologne and Bolzano, concluding in Vienna on August 24th.
Does street athletics work?
Last season 10,000 people witnessed the action in Munich, drawing a potentially new audience to the sport of athletics.
“I get the impression the audience enjoys it very much,” says Margreiter. “They are very close to the athletes and they can feel the wind rushing the athletes. There is a really special mood in the city when the Fly Swat takes place. It offers a great advert for athletics.” This season he estimates that more than 25 million people will see the Golden Fly Series on TV.
How do the meetings work?
Compact and fast-moving, no Golden Fly series competition lasts longer than two-and-a-half hours. The competitions run simultaneously with a pole vaulter followed by a long jumper, and so the sequence continues. The fields are limited to a small number of elite athletes.
What was the quality of competitions like on the Fly Swat?
The runway is a Mondo surface and works to all the IAAF specifications. The best pole vault performance on the Fly Swat last year was 5.72m and the best long jump result was 8.11m, and on the distaff side 6.83m. Useful.
What other entertainment is on offer for the crowd?
Every athlete has their own personalised walk-on music. So last year, 2008 Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker came on the runway to the sound of Australian rock band ACDC’s 1980 song ‘Hells Bells’ while world indoor long jump champion Mauro Vinicius da Silva entered to the samba beat of a lively Brazilian number.
What next for the Fly Swat?
“Up until now we only have one Fly Swat but we have had also had interest from the USA, so maybe it is possible in future to build a Fly Swat 2 or Fly Swat USA,” says Margreiter. “For the Golden Fly series we want to keep it around five or six events because if we have ten or 12 I couldn’t guarantee the quality would be of the same level.”
Australia’s former world and Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker and his girlfriend, Russian world and Olympic 1500m finalist Yekaterina Kostetskaya, put their relationship to the ultimate test in SPIKES' all-star Mr & Mrs.
We'll start off with an easy one... favourite colour?
Steve: I wear a lot of white t-shirts…but I don’t know if white is a colour?
Katya said: White or black.
CORRECT!
Katya: I could probably answer that question when I was six, I don’t really have a favourite colour now. It depends what it is for. I do have a dislike for purple, though.
Steve said: Something bright like a fluorescent yellow.
WRONG!
1-0 Katya. Favourite pre-competition song?
Steve: Anything from the Flaming Lips.
Katya said: Probably something from Phoenix, The Flaming Lips or Foster the People.
CORRECT!
Katya: There are so many and they’re always changing. But my top three picks would probably be Feeding Line by Boy and Bear, Clap Your Hands by Sia and Disparate Youth by Santigold. Pink’s always good, too.
Steve said: Anything by Pink.
CORRECT!
2-1 to Katya. What is the one thing you can’t do without on the circuit?
Steve: Coffee/Coffee machine.
Katya said: Good coffee. He always tried to find a good local coffee shop.
CORRECT!
Katya: Tough question. There is nothing I can’t do without, if I forget it. I once realised that I forgot to bring my spikes with me in the call room at a Diamond League meeting in Lausanne. Fortunately, I managed to borrow the exact same pair of adidas spikes in the same size from a friend who had already competed.
Steve said: Her amazing mother, her coach and massage therapist.
WRONG!
3-1! Steve has scored some brownie points with Katya's mum but he's two down after three... favourite competition venue?
Steve: Berlin
Katya said: Berlin
CORRECT!
Katya: Rome. It doesn’t get any better.
Steve said: Rome
CORRECT!
Most annoying habit?
Steve: I can’t concentrate on two things at once.
Katya said: He has a habit of beating me at table tennis and that annoys me!
WRONG!
Katya: Leaves apple cores in strange places.
Steve said: I leave apple cores in the most obscure places.
CORRECT!
Steve has pulled one back, 4-3. Two questions left... favourite food?
Steve: Rib Eye steak
Katya said: Steak
CORRECT!
Katya: Oysters, I can eat at least a dozen or two in one go.
Steve said: Seafood, probably oysters.
CORRECT!
5-4. The tension is unbearable. WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE FILMS?
Steve: I love movies but don’t have a favourite. My favourite TV series are Dexter and Man Men.
Katya said: I’m not too sure Steve has a favourite film. He loves TV series. His favourites are Dexter, Mad Men, I Met Your Mother and Breaking Bad.
CORRECT!
Katya: I don’t have a favourite film. I prefer TV, Dexter is my favourite.
Steve said: I can’t imagine Katya has a favourite movie, she usually falls asleep during them.
CORRECT!
Two great contestants clearly in a state of utter domestic bliss. But the final score is Katya 6 Steve 5 and bragging rights go to the Russian.
