A steady competitor in fickle pole vault

As dramatic as pole vaulting is, perhaps no event in track and field is as technical and unpredictable.

Vaulters need a gymnast's body control, a sprinter's speed and a hurdler's precision. Winds can buffet the body and psyche.

That makes what Brad Walker has done even more impressive.

When it comes to planting a long, springy pole and launching over a bar as high as a two stories, no one has been steadier. In the past four World Championships, indoor and outdoor, Mountlake Terrace's Walker, 27, has won two golds and two silvers. He's the world No. 1-ranked vaulter going into Beijing.

"I'm not going over there to win a bronze or a silver," Walker said. "If I execute my jump well, I will be hard to beat."

Confident words coming from Walker, who in the span of one month experienced the mercurial nature of his sport. In an Olympic trials tuneup, Walker set an American record of 19 feet, 9 ¾ inches, breaking Jeff Hartwig's eight-year mark and the highest jump in the world since 2001.

Conversations buzzed about Walker possibly making a try for the sport's Holy Grail, Sergey Bubka's 14-year-old world record of 20-2.

But weeks later at the U.S. trials, at the same Hayward Field venue at Oregon, Walker placed third, the final spot on the Olympic team. He jumped 18-6 ½, unable to jump higher because of tricky winds.

"It doesn't affect me at all," Walker said in an e-mail after trials. "I was in third place after I cleared my opening bar. After I knew I was on the team, I passed until some bigger heights and couldn't catch a break on the wind. All I cared about was being on the team, and there was no need to force jumps and risk injury."

Washington's two-time NCAA champion is considered the state's best pole vaulter since Brian Sternberg, who broke the world record twice in 1963 before being paralyzed while training on a trampoline.

Walker, who grew up in Spokane, is accustomed to jumping in all conditions, indoors and out. He is noted for his attention to detail, technical skills and 24/7 approach to training.

"He just works harder than anybody I've ever known," said Blake Bidleman, a former UW decathlete who trained with Walker. "He eats right. He cooks for himself. He eats vegetables he doesn't like to make him better."

His coaches said he's a big-stage vaulter.

"It seems like every big competition he's been in since he was a freshman, he rises to the occasion," said Pat Licari, his former college coach who guides him along with renowned coach Dan Pfaff.

Walker's parents and sister, along with some close friends and his girlfriend, Carly Dockendorf, a former UW gymnast and Canadian pole-vaulter, are planning the trip to cheer on Walker in China.

Saying he's no longer plagued by bulging back disks that had limited his training since last year, Walker expects his competition for Olympic gold to be Russian Evgeniy Lukyanenko and Australian Steven Hooker — the only vaulters besides Walker to have cleared 6 meters (19-8 ¼) or higher this year — and possibly some German vaulters.

"The starting field at last year's world championships and the Olympics are about the same," he said. "I've already gone up against them and medaled against them. But really, I won't rule anybody out."