Joel aims for top of the pole

By Casey Neill
BELGRAVE pole vaulter Joel Pocklington has his eyes on Commonwealth Games glory.
The 23-year-old recently returned to Australia after last month competing in the World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia.
Pocklington was one of three Aussie vaulters vying for two places in the national team.
“It just pretty much came down to the top two people (at the national competition),” he said. “I came second and got the spot.”
Pocklington then missed the mat in a competition in Hungary a week before the games.
“I actually hurt myself pretty badly,” he said.
The sport is fraught with danger. Pocklington lists stress fractures, torn shoulder muscles and ligament damage among his injuries.
“It’s a pretty demanding sport,” he said.
He competed in Serbia with a corked calf and other soreness.
“But I jumped pretty well in the qualifying and made the final, which was my goal,” he said.
Pocklington tried to have fun in the final.
“But it didn’t work out very well, and I jumped pretty badly,” he said.
He finished 11th overall in the event.
The World University Games is the second largest multi-sport competition to the Olympics.
“It was just a great experience for me to be with people from a whole bunch of different countries,” Pocklington said.
His goal is to make as many international teams as possible. “Competing for Australia is big honour,” he said. “The Olympics is really the ultimate goal for everyone. But the Olympics are going to be tough to get to just because I’m not that tall.”
Pocklington is 175cm. Most pole vaulters are at least six foot, or 183cm-plus.
“You don’t get too many below that,” he said.
He is now training for next year’s Commonwealth Games and the Australian national competition next April will form the selection trials.
Pocklington will have until then to jump the qualifying standard, which is likely to be about 5.4 metres.
His best so far is 5.3m and he admits he has work to do. “But I reckon I can get it,” he said.
Pocklington started out in gymnastics. “Dad did athletics for his whole life and he sort of got me into it when I was about 13,” he said.
He tried a “bit of hurdling” before he began pole vaulting at 15. “My coach just called me up out of the blue one day because he’d heard I was a gymnast and also did a bit of running for the athletics club, and they’re the sort of things that you need to pole vault,” Pocklington said. “He thought I’d be all right at it so I tried out. “The actual sport is really fun to do. The feeling you get when you’re going through the air is great.”