Washington alum Walker misses out on a medal with fourth place finish at world championships...
MOSCOW, Russia--University of Washington alum Brad Walker (left/photo by Paul Merca) finished fourth in the men's pole vault finals at the IAAF World Track & Field Championships at Luhzniki Stadium on a warm Monday evening.
Walker opened the meet with a first attempt miss at 18-6 1/2 (5.65m) before clearing on his second attempt.
He made the next height, 18-10 1/4 (5.75m) on his second attempt as well, before clearing 19-1 (5.82m) on his first attempt, before bowing out at 19-3 3/4 (5.89m).
Walker was in medal contention for most of the competition, until a clutch third attempt clearance by reigning Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie of France at 19-3 3/4 left the University/Spokane grad out of contention.
The first attempt miss by Walker at 18-6 1/2 was the difference between the 2007 world champion missing out on a medal, as Bjorn Otto of Germany had an identical series to Walker from 18-10 1/4 on up, with a first attempt make at 18-6 1/2.
Germany's Raphael Holzdeppe won with a first attempt clearance at 19-3 3/4, followed by Lavillenie and Otto.
In events involving Americans, David Oliver ran a world leading time of 13.00 to lead a US 1-2 in the 110 hurdles, stopping the clock at 13.00, followed by USC alum Ryan Wilson (13.13) and Russia's Sergey Shubenkov (13.24).
The women's 100 saw Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price win in a world leading 10.71, with Carmelita Jeter third in 10.94.
Tuesday will see Washington State University hall of famed and former world champion Bernard Lagat run in the semifinals of the men's 5000 meters at 10:20 am local time (11:20 pm Monday in Seattle), as he tries to advance to Friday's finals.
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