Australian Steve Hooker came within a centimeter of his Beijing Olympic record in the pole vault, while Asafa Powell and Xavier Carter were upstaged by a local runner in the 400m at the Sydney Track Classic on Saturday. Hooker attempted a personal best effort of 6.10m and came close on his third and final attempt as he continued to chase down Sergey Bubka's world record 6.15m. Hooker, 26, has been chipping away at the Ukrainian's 16-year milestone and has been unbeaten since his Beijing Olympic record of 5.96m last year, winning six consecutive competitions over the past two months. He vaulted a personal best 6.06m in Boston, the second highest leap of all time. The Olympic champion's clearance of 5.95m on Saturday put him well ahead of Beijing silver medallist Evgeniy Lukyanenko of Russia (5.45m). The world championship in Berlin in August is the main target for Hooker this year and he is confident he will ultimately break the world record. Jamaica's former 100m world record holder Powell and American Carter garnered most of the headlines ahead of the 400m event, but it was Australian Olympic semifinalist Sean Wroe, who won in 45.28 seconds. Carter was second in 45.75, with Powell, warming up for his more favored 100m event in Melbourne next Thursday, was fourth in 45.94 after a scintillating final 100m. Australia's Kurt Mulcahy was third. Australian Sally McLellan had a busy program, winning the 100m, the 100m hurdles and the 4x100m relay. A silver medallist in the 100m hurdles in Beijing, McLellan ran 11.39 in the 100m sprint to finish clear of Jamaican Shericka Williams (11.57) and American Brianna Glenn (11.75). Jamaican Olympic champion Melanie Walker won the 400m hurdles in 55.50, well outside her Olympic record of 52.64 seconds. In other events, Tristan Thomas ran the second fastest 400-meter hurdles by an Australian to beat world champion and Beijing Olympic bronze medalist Bershawn Jackson of the United States. Thomas clocked a personal best of 48.86 seconds, second only to Rohan Robinson's 48.28 at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. Thomas and Jackson were neck-and-neck after clearing the final hurdle but the Australian finished in front, with Jackson running 49.06.
