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Molly Caudery broke down in tears after seeing her Olympics dreams shattered at the Stade de France as she failed to clear a height in the women’s pole vault qualification.
The 24-year-old from Truro was tipped as a gold medal contender after winning the World Indoor Championships earlier this year as well as breaking the British record with a jump of 4.92m, making her the best performer of 2024.
But the Olympic stage is very different to any other event, and Caudery never got to grips with it on her debut.
Electing to start at a height of 4.55m, Caudery failed on all three attempts, missing out on a place in the final, where those who cleared 4.40m went through.
It was a huge disappointment for her personally, and she could not contain the emotions when reflecting on how it had gone wrong.
She said: “I’m currently in a little bit of a shock. I’m so disappointed and I’m so sorry to everyone back at home who has been supporting me.
“I don’t have any excuse, I felt great, I’m in the best shape of my life, I love a big crowd. I didn’t feel overly nervous. I don’t have a reason for what just happened. I believe everything is a lesson and I’ll find out in time. It’s just going to take a little bit of time to process.
“Normally, on my first event, you want to clear it first time, of course. But I’d been waiting around for a little while, needed to get my legs moving and when I went in for my second attempt, in my mind, there was no way I wasn’t going to clear it. When I took that third attempt, I was just in disbelief.”
Caudery was the only athlete to start her competition at 4.55m, with the rest of the field beginning at a lower height.
But she refused to pin the blame for her elimination on the decision not to ease herself into the event.
She added: “4.55 is a bar that I jump day in, day out. There is not one piece of doubt in my mind that I was going to clear it. Some people will say that I came in too high but that is definitely not my coach’s or my opinion. When I’ve been jumping 4.80, 4.90 all year round, 4.55 shouldn’t be a problem. I don’t think I would have cleared it if it was 4.40. It was just a really unfortunate day. I’ll go and talk to my coach to work out what went wrong.
“I don’t think anyone puts more pressure on myself than I do. I went in with a dream, I felt confident, I didn’t feel too much pressure from everyone else. I do enjoy a big crowd; this is my first time in this kind of environment. I don’t think that is what went wrong today. I don’t know what happened, but it just wasn’t my day.”
Her exit came not long after she had consoled team-mate Holly Bradshaw, who with bronze in Tokyo became the first Briton to win a pole vault medal, but ruled herself out in what she had already declared to be her final Games after she was unable to make 4.40.
Bradshaw was also devastated to miss out, in tears as she was consoled by Caudery on the track and emotional as she spoke to Eurosport after her fourth and final Olympics came to a close, and paid tribute to her late father.
She said: “I’m just crushed. I knew this was going to be my last champs.
“I’ve only got a few competitions left, so I am heartbroken. It’s been a really hard year and I wanted to come out and do myself proud and I really feel like I haven’t.
“This is the first time I was pain-free all year, so I don’t really know what happened. I know it sounds daft, but the track and the environment and everything was too good and I was caught on the back foot, which is frustrating about pole vault.
“Mainly I just wanted to come out and do my dad proud. You know, he passed away in November, and I really hope that I did that even though it didn’t go well.
“The crowd really reminds me of London. it’s kind of fitting that that was the start of my journey and this is the end.
“You know, I really earned my place on this team. I fought really hard to get back and make it, and just to be here is a privilege and an honour and I’m trying to soak it up.
“My priority is to be a mum now, so I want to start a family with my husband.”
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