Molly Caudery soars to British pole vault record of 4.92m

The 24-year-old beats Holly Bradshaw’s national mark in damp conditions in Toulouse on Saturday

Molly Caudery showed she is in fantastic form ahead of the UK Championships and Olympic trials in Manchester by breaking Holly Bradshaw’s British record of 4.90m with 4.92m at the Toulouse Capitole Perche pole vault street event in France.

In wet conditions and surrounded by spectators sheltering under the rain with umbrellas, the 24-year-old from Cornwall cleared a world-leading mark of 4.92m, improving her lifetime best by 6cm as she went No.7 on the all-time rankings.

Her 4.92m was also the best women’s pole vault mark in the world since 2021.

It follows the disappointment of the European Championships in Rome earlier this month where she won bronze in a competition won by Angelica Moser of Switzerland with 4.78m.

Caudery, who won the world indoor title in March, entered the competition in Toulouse at 4.36m and then cleared 4.51m and 4.61m on her first attempts. After passing at 4.67m she needed two attempts at 4.73m, but then cleared 4.80m on her first attempt and her record-breaking height on her second try. The Briton then had a single go at 5.00m.

Marie-Julie Bonnin finished runner-up with 4.51m, while her fellow French athlete Thibaut Collet won the men’s vault with 5.82m.

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