MELBOURNE - Olympic and world champion pole vaulter Steve Hooker recorded a disappointing 5.65 metres at the Melbourne Track Classic on Thursday, his final outing before the world indoor championships. The Australian, who will attempt to collect the one major international title he does not hold next week in Doha, missed three jumps at 5.85, but still comfortably beat a largely domestic field. “Up until I was out of the competition, I thought it was going to be a big night,” Hooker, who cleared 5.91 last week in Sydney, told reporters. “I still think it's a good trial run for the world indoors. There's a lot of positives to take out of it but it wasn't a positive result.” His compatriot Jeff Riseley had a better evening, leaving Kenya's Beijing Olympic champion Asbel Kiprop and silver medallist Nick Willis of New Zealand in his wake to win the 1,500 in three minutes 42.70 seconds. Kenya's David Rudisha, who ran the fastest 800 time of 2009, earlier showed he will be a force to be reckoned with this year as well with an impressive 1:43.15 to win the two-lap race by more than three seconds. Australia's world champion Dani Samuels won the women's discus with a throw of 62.97, well short of the personal best of 65.84 she managed last week in Sydney.
