After the Beijing Olympics, Australian Steve Hooker naturally did a bunch of press after his Olympic Gold performance. This is one of the best show appearances I have seen by a sports figure.

We earlier posted the Steve Hooker Pre-Berlin 2009 Interview where the Australian gold medalist discussed his thoughts on going into the World Championships. Steve ended up winning the competition by entering at a ridiculous height of 5.85m.

An interview with Steve Hooker before he won the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. In the finals, Steve Hooker came in with 2 competitors remaining in the pole vault competition and took only two jumps to win the gold. Amazing.

Chelsea Johnson only started Pole vaulting the second half of her senior year, but it did not take long for her to realize her potential. After only a couple months on the pole, she made bars that ranked her as one of the best in the country.

Johnson won the California state meet and with a winning jump of 13-6 at the Golden West, she equaled her high school PR. As a freshman, Johnson competed at NCAAs and raised her PR to 13-10.25. A break-out year for Chelsea was 2004; she finished second at NCAA indoors and she set the NCAA record of 15-0 that outdoor season. Johnson won her first of two NCAA crowns and that helped the UCLA women’s team win team title in 2004.

The 2004 track season did not end at NCAAs for Johnson. She competed at 2004 Olympic trials and finished 4th only to miss the team by one spot. 2005 proved a difficult year for Johnson, but she returned to form in 2006 and surprised all by winning NCAA indoors and setting a new NCAA record. Chelsea also placed second outdoors.

“In this short interview from the spring of 2008, [American Record Holder] Jenn Stuczynski talks about how she views competition (win first, then height second) and about the privacy of goals and criticism. Good, thoughtful stuff. The interview was shown during the 2008 Reebok Grand Prix meet in New York City and aired on CBS Sports Network.”