Interview With American Pole Vaulter Brad Walker

Interview with Pole Vaulter and American Record Holder Brad Walker

His career has largely been under the radar, but as Brad Walker proved with his clutch vault at the Prefontaine Classic, the face of the U.S. pole vaulting can fly high with the best of ‘em.

PreRaceJitters.com had the chance to catch up with the American record holder to discuss pole vaulting and his goals for the 2009 season.

Here is what Olympian Brad Walker had to say:

PRJ: Tell us the feeling you get when you step onto the runway?

BW: Normally, the opening bar of the meet is the toughest. After warm-ups, I usually have to wait for a little while and end up cooling down a bit. But when I step onto the runway, I am just focused on a few technical cues. This normally helps to calm down the nerves and get me into meet mode.

PRJ: Is it tough to deal with the physical nature of pole vaulting?

BW: Yep. Pole Vaulting takes a toll on the body. Many vaulters including myself have shoulder issues, back issues, lower leg issues etc. We are a pretty unilateral event and over time our bodies have trouble keeping up. Achilles issues and back issues have ended a number of careers.

PRJ: How old were you when you first picked up a pole and started vaulting competitively?

BW: I guess technically it was seventh grade. It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t high, but I was jumping around 8 ft in meets as a seventh grader.

PRJ: Did you have any role models growing up?

BW: I was big into football and track but never really remember a time where I was like, “man I wanna be like that guy.” I was always inspired by top athletes of any sport…Jordan, Montana, Rice, Bubka, all guys that I looked up to.

Click Here for the Entire Interview