Tokyo 2020 - ‘Queen of the fourth, fifth, sixth’ - Holly Bradshaw ‘can’t believe’ Olympic pole vault bronze
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Updated 05/08/2021 at 14:55 GMT
After coming close on multiple occasions, Bradshaw now has a global major outdoor medal with bronze at Tokyo 2020. Bradshaw says she feels a mixture of “elation, enjoyment, relief, excited” and used all of her experience to remove herself from competitors “messing about” in the early rounds. You want it? We have it. Stream every Olympic event live on discovery+.
'Oh yes, wow!' - Bradshaw fired up with crucial clearance to take pole vault bronze
Britain’s new Olympic pole vault bronze medallist Holly Bradshaw says she did not know if she was ever going to win a global outdoor medal, after falling at the last hurdle on several occasions.
The 29-year-old from Preston called herself the “queen of the fourth, fifth, sixth” places but says she was overcome with a confusing number of emotions when she secured a place on the podium at Tokyo 2020.
American Katie Nageotte won gold as the only athlete to clear 4.90m, but Bradshaw’s jump of 4.85m was enough to secure her bronze behind Russian Anzhelika Sidorova.
The medal has been coming for the Team GB pole vaulter, who finished an agonising fourth at the 2019 World Championships. She has also narrowly missed out at Rio 2016 and previous Commonwealth Games, despite being tipped as a podium contender since London 2012.
“I honestly can’t believe it and I don't know what emotion it is I’m experiencing,” she told Eurosport.
I’m so torn with elation, enjoyment, relief, excited... I can’t put it into words, it’s something I’ve been working towards my whole life and my whole career and I didn’t know if it was ever going to come my way.
“You know, ‘queen of the fourth, fifth, sixth’, but I finally did and I can’t believe it, I’m so happy.”
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Even though the bronze is the biggest achievement of Bradshaw’s career, she is one of the most experienced athletes on the tour. A nervy final saw many of the contenders fall early on at heights well below their ability, and she says she made sure she was not caught up in it.
“This is the one thing that I think has stood me in good stead, I knew I needed to deliver 80, 85, 90 to win a medal, no matter what everyone else was doing, everyone else was messing about at 50 and 70, I had to stay strong.
“I went to the toilet to get out of there, just to stay focused. When Kat (Stefanidi) cleared and bumped me into fourth, I was like not again, not again, this can’t be happening.
“I just focused on what I wanted to do, let all the emotion attached to it go and I just thought, run down that runway, kick that leg and I cleared it. It was a blur, I can’t even remember it but it was just pure, I’ve done this.”
As pole vault is an event against the bar, rather than directly against rivals, many of the competitors are often good friends. Bradshaw says that is something which can be difficult to deal with, but she stayed professional: “It’s interesting because I heard Kath Merry (stadium announcer and Sydney 2000 400m bronze medallist) say there’s four left in and they’re all shooting for the medals.
“Especially Kat Stefanidi and Katie Nageotte, I’m really, really close with and get on really well and it’s like I’m battling these girls for a medal and I could finish fourth here.
“It doesn’t matter about the person, you’ve just got to clear the bar and although there are tactics coming into play, you just detach yourself in the moment from ‘that’s one of my best friends’, it’s just another person.”
Now Bradshaw has a first global medal, she is targeting another, ahead of a packed 2022 of competition.
“Commonwealth Games is straight final, I’ve got a minimum 15 days between Worlds, Commies and Euros," she said.
“I’m going to do everything I can including World Indoors and just keep enjoying what I’m doing.
“I jumped a PB this year. I don’t see why I can’t keep going in that trajectory, the world is my oyster and I’m definitely going to carry on.”
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