Steve Hooker honoured with Order of Australia Medal (OAM)

USANA Australia congratulates USANA sponsored athlete, Steve Hooker, on being honoured with Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Steve Hooker won gold and broke an Olympic record in Pole Vault at the Beijing Olympics.

Steve joined the Pole Vaulting elite of the world, clearing a pole vault jump of 6.00m, becoming the 3rd Australian and 14th athlete in the world to achieve this benchmark.
According to the honours committee, Hooker represented the country in an exemplary manner and brought great credit to himself, the Australian Olympic team and the nation.

The Medal of the Order of Australia is part of an honours list, announced twice a year on Australia Day and the Queen's Birthday and are the result of nominations put to the Council for the Order of Australia.

Born: 16 July 1982
Melbourne, Victoria
Competing Sport: Pole Vault
Personal Best: pole vault of 6.00m
Steve Hooker has been sponsored by USANA Australia & New Zealand for two years.

Sporting Achievement Highlights:
2008: Beijing Olympic Gold Medal. Olympic record jump of 5.96m
Ranked #1 at Perth Interclub Meet (Perth, Australia)
2006: Ranked #1 at Commonwealth Games (Melbourne, Australia)Ranked #4 at World Athletics Final (Stuttgart, Germany)
Ranked #1 at World Cup (Athens, Greece)

Steve Hooker won gold and broke an Olympic record in Pole Vault at the Beijing Olympics.

Steve joined the Pole Vaulting elite of the world, clearing a pole vault jump of 6.00m, becoming the 3rd Australian and 14th athlete in the world to achieve this benchmark.

Steve was born to be an exceptional athlete. His mother, Erica Nixon, was a long jumper, who won nine national titles and a silver medal at the 1978 Commonwealth Games. His father, Bill Hooker, represented Australia in the 800m and 4 x 400m at the 1974 Commonwealth Games and won four national titles.

At the age of 23, Steve headed to WA looking to take his career to the next level with the help of renowned WA Institute of Sport pole vault coach Alex Parnov. In the last two years Steve has risen through the world ranks, and placed on the Olympic path.

Steve will face some solid competition at Beijing, particularly from the US, German and Russian athletes. Steve is planning to give it his best, “I'm going to go out there and keep scrapping. I'm going to go out there and give it 100 percent!”

Steve takes USANA Essentials, Garlic EC, BiOmega III, and Procosamine II.