Atheltics Weekly

IAAF WORLD CHAMPS 2017
FIVE STAR
A FOCUSED MIND AND FINE CURRENT
FORM BODES WELL FOR HOLLY BRADSHAW
IN LONDON AND SHE TELLS JESSICA
WHITTINGTON ABOUT HER APPROACH
MAIN PICTURE: GETTY IMAGES FOR BRITISH ATHLETICS
HEN it comes to the IAAF
W
World Championships in
London, Holly Bradshaw is
taking a five-star approach.
“I bought this bracelet because I have
five cues that I want to remember,” says the
British pole vault record-holder, pointing to
her wrist where a star is delicately tied by
two brightly coloured strands.
“I was getting so bogged down with
the expectation that I was forgetting about
the process. Now, every time I’m training
or any time I look at this it reminds me,
‘think about the cues, don’t think about the
heights or the medals.’ That helped loads in
the competition I did in Germany.”
During that competition Bradshaw
improved her own national outdoor record
to 4.81m, so something certainly seems to
be working.
With a focused mind as well as some
fine current form, the 25-year-old appears
to be peaking at just the right time as she
prepares to return to the London Stadium
which holds so many memories.
The road which has taken Bradshaw
from London and back, via places such as
Beijing and Rio, has been a bumpy one but
the 2012 Olympic sixth-placer says she’s
stronger for having had such a journey.
“I don’t regret any of the injuries,” says
the Blackburn Harriers athlete, who has
undergone four surgeries in the past five
years – one on her back, one on her knee
and a couple on her Achilles area. “I don’t
look back and think ‘if I just didn’t have this
injury maybe I would have done this or that’.
All of the injuries have been special and they
have made me become a stronger, better
athlete.
“Now I sit here and have all these
strengths in my armour and I’m so resilient
and so motivated,” she adds. “It makes it
worthwhile when I’m out there competing in
front of a home crowd at a major champs,
battling it out for a medal, hopefully.”
Her Olympic debut at the London
2012 Games, when she was competing
under her maiden name of Bleasdale,
also provided Bradshaw with invaluable
experience.
“For me, finishing sixth at my first
Olympics was insane but I think some
people saw it as a disappointment, like ‘well
I thought you were going to win a medal’,”
she says. “But I’d been in the sport for four
years, competing against some girls that
had been in the sport for 10 or 15 years.
I felt like I did amazing and I enjoyed the
experience. I was still young and a bit naive,
so I learnt a lot. A lot of what I learnt there
has set me up for where I am now.”
Despite her struggles, the past few
years have not been filled with woe. When
Bradshaw was able to compete, a win at
the 2013 European Indoor Championships,
a seventh-place finish at the 2015 World
Championships and fifth at the Rio
Olympics were among her performances.
However, she knows she has more to
give.
“I’ve been setting PBs in every session,
whether it’s sprinting, throwing, plyometric
jumps or pole vault training off short
approach,” says the Scott Simpsoncoached
vaulter who cleared her outright
British record of 4.87m at the beginning
of 2012. “It’s all come together and it has
been reflected in the two British records
I’ve jumped this year,” she adds, having
“IT’S ALL COME
TOGETHER AND
IT HAS BEEN
REFLECTED IN
THE TWO BRITISH
RECORDS I’VE
JUMPED THIS YEAR”
HOLLY BRADSHAW
2 0 A T H L E T I C S W E E K L Y