Pole vaulter Bradshaw bemoans off night at Diamond League meet in Monaco
BySportsbeat
Published 21/07/2018 at 11:53 GMT
British pole vaulter Holly Bradshaw admitted it was not her night after failing to register a jump at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
The 26-year-old went into the event on the back of two promising showings at the London Athletics World Cup and the Jockgrim Stabhochsprung meeting in Germany, where she cleared 4.80m.
But the former European indoor champion failed at her opening height of 4.40m on all three jumps and was unable to progress to the latter stages of the event.
And despite being disappointed with her performance, Bradshaw praised the quality of the field as Anzhelika Sidorova claimed gold with a new personal best leap of 4.85.
"It was not my night," said Bradshaw. "I never like to make excuses, however right from warm up my grip was not playing ball and wasn't sticking like normal, making it impossible to jump.
"There's a first time for everything, but what an incredible pole vault competition to be a part of – if you can call no heighting still being part of the competition.
"The girls are on fire this year and it's so amazing to see for our event."
Bradshaw was not the only British representative in Monaco, with Chris O'Hare running a new personal best in the men's 1500m as he finished in ninth.
The American-based Scot broke his own national record as he crossed the line in 3:32.11 and moved to sixth on the UK all-time list with his impressive showing.
O'Hare, who competed for Great Britain at the Rio 2016 Olympics, shaved 1.5 seconds off the 3:33.61 Scottish record he already held and improved his season's best (3:35.96).
"I am pretty happy with that and getting the record," said O'Hare. "I just went out a little bit too quick. I didn't want to get stuck and I didn't want to be the one to bridge any gaps.
"I only found out on Wednesday night that I was in the race – the plan was only to race at the Anniversary Games, so I'd done a session on Wednesday morning, which isn't ideal."
Fellow Scot Jake Wightman also had a race to savour as he went under 3:34 for the first time, pushing O'Hare all the way and leading him at the bell.
The 24-year-old was eventually overtaken and finished in 11th but he set a new personal best with a run of 3:33.96 and went to third on the Scottish all-time list.
Yet while he achieved several milestones in Monaco, Wightman revealed afterwards that it felt like a missed opportunity in a race that was won by Timothy Cheruiyot in a world leading time of 3:28.41.
"I am actually disappointed not to have made more of the opportunity," he said.
"I went as hard as I could but I just died the last 200. I have had a cold this past week and I don't know if that held me back but I didn't feel as fit as I believe I am."
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