Walker liking odds
SEATTLE – His confidence soaring after capturing the U.S. outdoor pole vault title last month, Brad Walker envisions himself coming home a winner from the world track and field championships at Helsinki, Finland, as well.
“I’d like to think I’m one of the guys to beat,” he said. “I think I’m in there with the best of them. I wouldn’t say the opposition scares me.”
Walker, a former University of Washington athlete, won his national title by clearing 18 feet, 10 1/4 inches at Carson, Calif., last month. Also in June, he set a personal best of 19-4 1/4 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore. In February, he won the U.S. indoor crown in Boston, clearing 18-6 1/2 .
Walker is having a strong year after failing to make the U.S. team for the 2004 Athens Olympics, where Americans Tim Mack, Toby Stevenson and Derek Miles swept the medals.
He cleared 18-10 at the Olympic Trials and just missed making 19-2, which would have gotten him a ticket to go to Athens.
“That would have won any other country’s nationals in the entire world to go to the Olympics,” he said. “So it was just really a hard year to be a U.S. vaulter.”
Walker, 24, credits weight training, physical maturity and physical therapy for his strong season. He’s currently ranked fifth in the world.
“I think this is the first year where I haven’t had any major injuries,” said Walker, whose college career was interrupted by surgery to repair a broken foot, a fractured wrist and a broken thumb.
Pat Licari, UW assistant coach, recruited Walker from University High School in Spokane because he loved Walker’s potential and competitive fire. A business major with a 3.5 GPA when he graduated after winning his second NCAA indoor title in 2004, Walker continues to live in Seattle and train under Licari.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Walker is a professional now because he signed a contract with Nike after his graduation. He’s not rich, but he’s making a good living and he’s saving up for his first house.
Licari, 37, a former Washington State vaulter, didn’t expect his prize pupil to win a national title last month.
“I’m very excited about how quickly he has moved to that level,” Licari said. “Our big goal was to place in the top three, but he’s been beating these guys in most of the meets this year. At this point, he’s one of the best.”
Licari, who coached UW senior Kate Soma to an NCAA pole vault title this season, works with Walker at the Huskies’ Dempsey Indoor training facility. He was at his side at the Olympic Trials last year and in Carson this year. He’ll be coaching him at Helsinki, too.
If Walker doesn’t win in Helsinki, he’ll just keep trying to get better, Licari said.
“Probably more than anything, he’s just an awesome competitor,” Licari said. “He’s very strong mentally when it comes to competition. He’s very focused and he’s very determined to win. That is a big attribute of his.”
Walker is a long-range planner. He thinks about the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the 2012 Olympics in London, the American pole vault mark of 19-7 1/2 set by Lawrence Johnson in 1996 and the world record of 20-1 3/4 set by famed Ukrainian Sergei Bubka in 1994. Bubka, considered the greatest pole vaulter in history, set the world pole vault record 35 times.
“I’m still pretty young,” he said. “I’m definitely stronger than I have been in the past. I’m leaps and bounds better than where I was last year.”
Before he retires, he’d like both the world and American records and to bring home two gold medals.
“If you didn’t have your sights there, you may as well pack your bags and go home because you’re kind of wasting your time,” he said. “… I think my best years are definitely ahead of me. That’s for sure.”