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In just over a week, hundreds of the nation’s top runners, jumpers, and throwers descend on Eugene for the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. 

Around a dozen athletes with Northwest ties could punch their tickets to Beijing.  University of Washington grad Brad Walker enters the Olympic Trials as the man to beat in the pole vault. 

The most technically demanding track & field event attracts risk takers and Walker says he’s no exception.  Correspondent Tom Banse has this profile.

It started innocently enough.  Brad Walker was in the seventh grade at Horizon Middle School outside Spokane.

Olympic medal favorite Brad Walker practices at Eugene’s Hayward Field.

Brad Walker: “Basically the coach said, ‘Who wants to be a pole vaulter? We’re going to have tryouts today.’ I just thought it looked fun.”

The coach liked the fact that Walker was athletic and tall.

Brad Walker: “The bars are so low that you literally jump off the ground and tuck in your legs and cannonball over a bar. You know, the beginning stages in the pole vault are pretty ridiculous.  Looking like an athletic track event it does not.”

That was then, this is now.

At age 26, Walker can launch himself into the equivalent of a third story window.  Earlier this month in Eugene, he set a new American record in the pole vault.  The peculiar event attracts daredevils, according to him.

Brad Walker: “What you’re willing to risk is a huge, huge factor in how high you can jump.  I think people with a gambling mentality are the ones who do that.”

University of Oregon grad and pole vault standout Tommy Skipper trains with Walker.  Skipper says the common mindset of pole vaulters creates good camaraderie off the field.

Tommy Skipper: “Brad likes to go fast. He has nice cars.  He’s always up for any adventure you throw at him.  That’s kind of like the pole vault mentality. It’s nice to be around people that are up to do anything.”

For his part, Skipper favors acrobatic flying and skydiving during breaks from training.  Brad Walker hasn’t tried skydiving.  He admits to listening to the voice of caution more often now that he’s at the top of his field.

Brad Walker poses with his winnings at the Prefontaine Classic meet.

Brad Walker: “The other end of it is, this is my full time job. This is how I make my living.  If I get injured doing something stupid, I’m out of money.  I gotta pay my mortgage.  I gotta do all the things that everyone else has to do.”

The main thing he’s doing now is training seven days a week.  A typical session may include stretching, sprints, weights, and physical therapy.  Walker says it feels like he’s always “on the clock.”

Brad Walker: ”It’s kind of one of those jobs where we can’t leave it at the office. I can’t leave it at the track. Everything that I put in my body, to how I sleep, to how I prepare.  I don’t have a weekend, a Friday-Saturday.  Yeah, I can go hang out, but if I’m staying out until 2 a.m. or having drinks -- doing that sort of stuff -- it’s going to hurt me.  It’s going to hinder my performance.”

Walker says he practices the jump itself surprisingly infrequently.  Maybe once every two weeks, so as not to aggravate past injuries.

During his professional career, Walker has suffered one concussion, broken a thumb, and been laid low by bulging disks in his back.

Brad Walker: “I would love to be in somebody else’s body and see what it feels like.  I feel it constantly, but it’s such a low level when I’m not doing exercise that it’s not a huge deal.”

He’s happy to report his nagging back pain is under control in this Olympic year.

The medal favorite says he lives largely unrecognized in his current home of Seattle.  That may change, judging from the autograph seekers who pounced on Walker after his American record vault.

Alex Wolf-Root is a fan from Davis, California.

Alex Wolf-Root: “It’s one of the few events I honestly wouldn’t try, but I love watching it.”

The U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials take place in Eugene.  The men’s pole vault team will be chosen on Sunday, the 29th.

Online:

U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials