Australians Steve Hooker and Fabrice Lapierre both claimed gold on day two of the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Doha.The reigning Olympic and world outdoor champion Hooker claimed the pole vault title after he cleared a championship record of 6.01m, also the leading vault of the season.
German duo Malte Mohr and Alexander Straub took silver and bronze, with bests of 5.70 and 5.65m respectively.
Little-known long jumper Lapierre stunned the field with a brilliant jump of 8.17m to win by nine centimetres from South African Godfrey Mokoena and another Australian Mitchell Watt.
After coming close to clearing 6.16m on his third attempt, Hooker was confident that he would one day break Ukrainian Sergey Bubka`s 17-year-old world mark of 6.15m.
"I think I can continue and can come in the future to break the world record," Hooker said.
"It was also exciting to break the championship record. It feels as good as I have ever jumped in my career.
"They were not good attempts at 6.16, but my 6.01 shows I am there.
"If I am in a competition when I am fresh without the massive qualification process, then the world record is possible."
Agence France-Presse
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