Molly Caudery fired up to defend World Indoor title after ‘grieving' for Paris Olympics
Molly Caudery will defend her women's pole vault title in Nanjing (David Davies/PA Wire)
For Molly Caudery, the Paris Olympics were an unmitigated disaster, so much so that she 'grieved' for her Games for weeks afterwards. Caudery arrived with a spring in her step as the new world indoor champion and a serious medal contender, and so she finds what happened next hard to explain. All she knows is that she failed to clear the bar, and her Olympics were over before they ever got airborne.
'I may 'no-height' once a year or once every two years, and mine just happened to be on the biggest competition of my life,' she smiles. 'It's not ideal, but what can I do now? All I can do is learn from it and not let it happen again.'
Advertisement
Caudery entered the competition at 4.55m, well short of her 4.92m personal best and British record set a month earlier in Toulouse, but notably higher than many of her rivals who got their eye in at a lower height. She rejects the idea that that she might have started lower too.
'People who aren't in my close circle would see it that way, but for me, I always do that. There was no reason I should have come in earlier … I just wasn't rolling the poles through. I don't think the actual height of the bar would have made a difference. I know what I can jump. So, no, I probably won't change anything.'
She admits the shock of that day took time to get over. 'The weeks after were really tough. I spent a lot of time with my family and friends and it was almost like a grieving period. But then it's like, what can you do? I can't go back and change time. I can only look forward to what's going on now and there is no point in living in that moment for too long.'
Molly Caudery holds her head in her hands after failing to qualify for the women's pole vault final (Martin Rickett/PA)
Caudery was devastated by her experience at the Paris Olympics (Martin Rickett/PA Wire)
Caudery is looking forwards now, speaking to journalists via video from Nanjing, China, ahead of this weekend's World Athletics Indoor Championships which begin on Friday.
Advertisement
She is there as a significant part of a small, 11-athlete strong British team, featuring new European indoor 60m champion Jeremiah Azu and captained by 1500m runner Neil Gourley, and she has arrived in promising form with something to defend. Caudery's gold medal in this championship last year in Glasgow was a breakthrough moment for the 25-year-old from Cornwall, and she is determined to protect her crown as indoor pole vault queen. All three Olympic medallists in Paris are absent from the start list in China this weekend, and the door is open for Caudery to repeat the feat.
'I think I can still take a lot of confidence from last season and the heights that I was jumping and especially last indoors and getting that title. I would love to try and retain it and that's what I'm going to try and do. And that in itself is so exciting and I know that I am in a good position to be able to do that.'
Pole vault is arguably the most bonkers of the athletics disciplines, the one whose most Googled queries are to ask who invented it and why. But it is also dazzling art and compelling theatre in equal measure, and the exploits of Armand Duplantis on the men's side have given the event a welcome surge.
'Pole vault is a a spectacle to watch' (Reuters)
So it was something of a surprise when Michael Johnson's new Grand Slam Track event, launching next month in Jamaica, emerged without any field events at all in its plans. 'I think I can save track – not track and field,' Johnson said of athletics, a sport that only truly blooms to life at the Olympics every four years.
Advertisement
Caudery shrugs off the snub, pointing to the small but lively independent pole vault scene that draws a crowd of its own.
'We have so many amazing street meets,' she says. 'They may not have the same exposure and the same kind of money thrown at them, but the pole vault setups are great and they're set up for us to jump high. They are normally in small European towns and countries where loads of people locally come and watch and for me that's so much fun. That's why I do the sport. So I'm personally not too upset by it. On behalf of most field athletes it would be nice to have equality there but I am happy travelling around doing all these fun pole vault meets.
'It's a spectacle to watch. I've been to meets in a train station and people are just on their way to work or wherever they're going and there's just pole vault in the middle of it. And that's just so amazing to me. And I think if we could do more things like that, it's such a great way to get us out there and into the world.'
Molly Caudery will defend her women's pole vault title in Nanjing (David Davies/PA Wire)
Now Caudery is not just looking forwards but upwards, setting her sights on a new, ambitious goal for her season, which all builds to the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September. And it also helps explain why she won't be lowering the bar any time soon.
Advertisement
'I would love to try and attempt five metres this year,' she says. 'I'm not someone who's going to come in at 4.70m, that is too high, but around that 4.50m mark is comfortable for me. And as long as I don't do anything really crazy, like I may have in Paris, it should be fine.'
The Olympics hurt, but Caudery is determined to weaponise that pain.
'What I did get from Paris was an extra fire and extra desire for this year. I took that into the winter and I've trained so hard and I've come out this year and there is that extra want in me, and I think that's a positive thing.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Ronaldo and Neves fire Portugal to UEFA Nations League glory
The Roshn Saudi League is celebrating another major international success after Cristiano Ronaldo and Ruben Neves came up trumps for Portugal to claim the UEFA Nations League title on Sunday. The RSL pair, of course representing Riyadh sides Al Nassr and Al Hilal respectively, played a major role in their country's penalty-shootout victory against Spain at Allianz Arena in Munich. Advertisement Ronaldo, the RSL top scorer in the past two seasons, netted the all-important equaliser just after the hour of a gripping final, his drilled finish making it 2-2 on the night. Sparking wild scenes among the Portugal fans, it marked Ronaldo's record-extending 138th senior international goal. Ronaldo was already increasing another record mark: this represented his 221st appearance for Portugal – no other male footballer has more international caps. The Al Nassr captain had to leave the pitch with two minutes of normal time remaining because of injury, but he was a vocal presence on the sidelines as Portugal prevailed on penalties. Advertisement Neves, his compatriot at city rivals Al Hilal, fired home the winning spot-kick as Roberto Martinez's men triumphed 5-4 in the shootout. Ronaldo was soon back on the pitch to hoist aloft the trophy, his third with Portugal following the 2016 UEFA European Championship and the 2019 UEFA Nations League. 'I have many titles with my clubs, but nothing is better than winning for Portugal," said Ronaldo, who finished the campaign with eight goals, including the winner in the semi-final against Germany. 'These are tears. It's mission accomplished and so much love.' Admitting that he was carrying an injury coming into the final, the five-time Ballon d'Or said: 'For the national team, if I had to break my leg, I would have broken it. Advertisement 'I have lived in many countries, I have played for many clubs, but when it's about Portugal, it is always a special feeling." Portugal's success makes it the second successive summer the RSL has been home to major winners on the international stage. Last year, Al Nassr's Aymeric Laporte was an integral part of the Spain side who lifted the 2024 Euros, also in Germany. Nacho, the current Al Qadsiah captain, was in that victorious team too – his move to the Kingdom, from freshly minted European champions Real Madrid, was confirmed only weeks before.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
McIntosh sets Canadian record in 800M freestyle
VICTORIA — Two Canadian Olympic medallists went head-to-head in a nail-biting 100-metre butterfly race, while Summer McIntosh of Toronto set a Canadian record in the 800-metre freestyle on Sunday at the Bell Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria. Ilya Kharun of Montreal and Josh Liendo of Toronto squared off in the same race that saw them share a podium at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Advertisement Kharun won in a personal best time of 50.37 seconds, touching the wall .09 ahead of Liendo. Both were well under the AQUA A qualifying time of 51.77 for this summer's world championships in Singapore. The 20-year-old Kharun was happy with the win but sees room for improvement. 'There's definitely some tweaks I can improve on,' said Kharun. 'I know it's not perfect yet. There's some things we've got to work on.' Liendo took silver in Paris, and Kharun the bronze. It was the first time two Canadian men stood on the Olympic podium together and first double podium for Swimming Canada since 1976 (Cheryl Gibson, Becky Smith — silver and bronze 400IM). McIntosh had a sellout crowd on its feet at Saanich Commonwealth Place cheering as she swam the 800 metres in 8:05.07. That shaved almost five seconds off her own Canadian record and was the third-fastest time ever, 0.95 of a second off the world record American legend Katie Ledecky set in May. Advertisement 'I'm always hoping to break records and push the boundaries of sport,' said the 18-year-old, who set a world record in the 400-metre freestyle on Saturday's opening night. 'I'm always trying to be faster and faster. That just gives me more fuel to the fire.' Para swimmer Nicholas Bennett won his second event of the trials. The S14 swimmer with the Red Deer Catalina Swim Club won the men's 200-m multi-class freestyle event in 1:54.44. He earned a silver medal in the same race at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. 'It was really good,' said the 21-year-old from nearby Parksville, B.C., who won the men's 100-m multi-class breaststroke Saturday. 'We're right where we want to be.' Advertisement Kylie Masse of Lasalle, Ont., also picked up her second victory of the meet by winning the 50-m backstroke in 27.24 seconds. Ingrid Wilm of the High Performance Centre-Vancouver celebrated her 27th birthday by finishing second in 27.58. Both swimmers were under the AQUA A qualifying time of 28.22. 'I've been enjoying doing it and putting a little more focus on it this year,' Masse said about the sprint race, in which she was the 2022 world champion. 'Every little detail counts, trying to execute it perfectly. It's really fast and really hard.' Earning a spot on the world championships team helped Wilm shake off the disappointment of finishing third in the 100-back Saturday night. That meant she didn't qualify for the event for the upcoming world championships after reaching the finals at the Paris Olympics. Advertisement 'I was frustrated after (Saturday) night,' said the Calgary native. 'It's to my chagrin we have such a deep field here in Canada. I relied a lot on my teammates and my coaching staff and it just once again showed me just how many people have my back.' It was a bittersweet victory for Blake Tierney in the men's 50-m backstroke. The Saskatoon native who trains at the High Performance Centre-Vancouver won the race in personal best time of 25.23 seconds. That was over the AQUA A qualifying time of 25.11 but under Swimming Canada's secondary standard of 25.36. "A lot of work needs to be done,' said Tierney, who has been dealing with an ankle issue. 'I couldn't do a lot of kicking, so that kind of messed with the confidence. I'm just doing the best I can. I'm really thankful I made the team.' Two-time Olympian Mary-Sophie Harvey of Trois-Rivières, Que., also won her second race of the meet but wasn't happy with her time. Advertisement Harvey, who trains with Montreal's CAMO club, won the 100-m butterfly in 58.37 seconds, over the AQUA A qualifying time of 58.33 but under Swimming Canada's secondary time of 59.91. 'I'm going to be honest,' said Harvey, who won the 200 breaststroke Saturday. 'It was good practice for my individual medley.' Montreal's Eric Brown won the 1,500-m freestyle in 15:17.54. That was over both the AQUA A time of 15:01.89 and the Swimming Canada secondary standard of 15:10.91. In other Para swimming events, Reid Maxwell, an S8 Para swimmer from the Edmonton Keyano Swim Club, won the multi-class 400-m freestyle in 4:26.66. It was the same event in which the 17-year-old won a silver medal at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games in Canadian record time. Advertisement 'It was a little slower than I wanted but I can't complain,' said Maxwell. 'I gave it everything I had.' Mary Jibb, an S9 swimmer from the Pacific Sea Wolves won the multi-class 400-m freestyle in 4:52.69. Emma Van Dyk, an S14 swimmer from the Brock Niagara Aquatics, was first in the women's 200-m multi-class freestyle in 2:23.78. Aly van Wyck-Smart, an S3 swimmer from Whitby Swimming, finished second in a Canadian record time of 4:48.05. During the morning heats S4 swimmer Jordan Tucker of Royal City Aquatics set a Canadian record of 4:03.87 in the S4 category. 'I'm blown away,' said Tucker. 'I'm very surprised but very hopeful I can keep breaking records.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2025. The Canadian Press
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Swimming-Canadian teen McIntosh shatters 400 metres freestyle record
(Reuters) -Canadian three-times Olympic champion Summer McIntosh set a world record in the women's 400 metres freestyle at the Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria, British Columbia, on Saturday. The 18-year-old clocked 3:54.18 to better Australian Ariarne Titmus' mark of 3:55.38 set at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. "Going into tonight, I knew that my training has been really good these past few months, and I knew that I could do something special," McIntosh told public broadcaster CBC. "So being able to input my training in doing that - I didn't think my training would be 54.1 but I'm really happy with that." At the Paris Olympics, McIntosh became the first athlete from Canada to win three gold medals at a single Olympic Games. In Paris, the four-times World Aquatics champion won gold in the 400 metres individual medley, 200 butterfly and 200 individual medley, as well as taking silver in the 400 freestyle. But things felt different at the Canada trials. "I just felt so strong throughout, and that's never been the case in the 400 freestyle for me. That last 100, I'm always really, really hurting. "But I flipped at the 200 and I was just cruising, so I knew that I was having a strong swim. I could tell by the crowd and knew the way they were cheering that I was probably close to the world record. "So I really tried to push that last part for them."