A coach with high standards lifts athletes to greater heights

"I CAN'T coach everyone in the world," laughs Alex Parnov, the Perth-based pole vault coach who is considered a genius in his field.

"I CAN'T coach everyone in the world," laughs Alex Parnov, the Perth-based pole vault coach who is considered a genius in his field.

Over the past year he has steered Steve Hooker and Paul Burgess to the No.1 and 2 positions in the world. Apart from "the boys", as he affectionately calls them, Parnov has a squad of 18 athletes, including his two talented daughters, Liz, 12, and Vicky 16, and Australia's best female vaulter, Kym Howe.

His books are full, but the best pole vaulters from overseas have been flocking like bees to his honey pot in Perth. For the past three weeks Parnov has been giving advice to American vaulters Brad Walker, ranked three in the world, and Toby Stevenson, the 2004 Olympic silver medallist, ranked six.

Walker has been so impressed he is staying an extra few weeks and is considering coming back for extended periods.

"Alex is one of the most knowledgeable coaches in the world, to be frank," said Walker, the 2006 world indoor champion. "He has a really efficient system to get those guys jumping high."

Pole vault is one of the most technically difficult events in sport. The athlete has to sprint down the runway carrying a pole up to five metres long, plant it in the ground and perform acrobatics to launch themselves over a narrow bar nearly six metres from the ground. And land safely.

Parnov, who grew up in Moscow, did not always do it successfully. His vaulting career ended in his mid-20s when he crash-landed on the base of the upright bars, smashing his leg and foot.

A product of the Soviet sporting system, at the age of 14 he was training to be a decathlete when a coach suggested he concentrate on pole vault. "It was a big frustration for me, I was crying all the time because I didn't want to do it," Parnov, now 47, recalled.

He improved rapidly and by the 1980's was among the top vaulters in the Soviet Union. He missed out on the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to injury but was on course for a berth in the team for the inaugural world championships, held in Helsinki in 1983.

That was until officials gave him some bad news. "I was second at the trial but they came and said to me, 'You are getting old (he was 24), we want to send a promising young fellow named Sergey Bubka'," Parnov said.

"I thought it was a bit unfair but I saw later it was the right decision when Bubka won the world championship."

Bubka, then 19, went on to be the most decorated vaulter of all time and still holds the world record of 6.14m.

The next best in history is Dmitri Markov (6.05m), the naturalised Australian who retired last night in Melbourne. Parnov met Markov in Moscow when the athlete was 16 and coached him for more than 10 years.

The pair came to Australia together, along with Viktor Chistiakov, after the 1996 Olympics on the invitation of Adelaide-based vault coach, Alan Launder.

Parnov said he took up the offer because he felt Moscow was no longer safe for his young family after the breakdown of the Soviet Union and increase in crime.

"When I moved I started to feel something because this country gave me the chance to have a safe place for my family. I had to find a way to pay that off," Parnov said.

Burgess, who has been coached by Parnov for eight years, can't thank his coach enough.

"There is no chance I would be a world class pole vaulter without him. I have the most amazing amount of respect for him," declared Burgess, 27, who is one of only 12 people to ever clear the 6m barrier. Alex is so hilarious too, he has a great sense of humour. Even though his English is not technically perfect, he finds the best way to explain things."