Britain's new golden girl Molly Caudery becomes the world pole vaulting champion
In one giant leap, Molly Caudery cleared 4.8m to become the world pole vaulting champion and the new golden girl of British athletics.
After winning Britain’s first ever world title in the event with a leap that was “like jumping through the second floor of a house”, as one fan put it, 23-year-old Molly now has her eye on the Olympics in Paris.
Molly, who graduated with a BSc from Loughborough last year, and has 224,000 followers online, said: “Prior to this year, my sights were always set on LA 2028. But things have really snowballed, I’ve built so much confidence. Taking that into Paris, I’d love to get a medal.”
And she had good news for the 500,000 UK ticket holders heading to the Olympics this summer. She said: “Some people wouldn’t like the pressures that come with it. But I thrive under pressure.”
Her triumph at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow at the weekend is all the more incredible when you consider she almost lost a finger in a weightlifting accident in 2021. It put her out of action for nine months. The details are not for the squeamish. She said: “As I brought the bar down, my finger caught between where you rack it and the bar. It was 90 per cent off. It was holding on by the skin on the side. That was a pretty big setback that I managed to come back from.”
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Molly grew up in Redruth, Cornwall, and as a schoolgirl earned extra pocket money as a waitress in the family business, the Peppercorn Cafe, in Perranuthnoe. Her dad Stuart, 54, says: “Now she enjoys baking to relax and is really good at it. She was the chief scone maker at the cafe and loves baking cakes. There has been talk of the Great British Bake Off – she would love to do that.”
England North West's Jessica Swannack, England South West's Molly Caudery and Northern Ireland's Ellen McCartney (PA)Stuart and Molly’s mum Barbara, 53, were in Glasgow to cheer their daughter on, alongside Molly’s boyfriend, high jumper Joel Clarke-Khan, 24. Molly’s family have all been pole vaulters and involved in athletics. Her brother Fynley, 25, a filmmaker, has posted 4.72m.
Stuart, a builder, coached Molly when she was a teenager and still volunteers with Cornwall Athletics Club. He said: “I was a decathlete, so you pole vault for that, but we have all done it. I met my partner at the track and she was a hurdler who also did pole vault and my son is jumping 4.72m. That is less than Molly now, so he is after her.”
“Some people wouldn’t like the pressures that come with it. But I thrive under pressure.” (PA)Stuart told how his daughter, a daredevil as a youngster, loved the outdoor sports and tried “multiple” athletic events as well as surfing. He said: “She tried high jump and long jump but pole vault was the one for her, she just loved it.
“She always enjoyed the outdoors, she would watch us on the track, and would write her own training programmes. She has done really well this year, it has just clicked, something has changed. She hit 4.8m or above in four competitions this winter so she was really confident going into Glasgow.”
Molly Caudery celebrates gold in the Women's Pole Vault during day two of the World Indoor Athletics Championships (PA)After her glory indoors, Molly is not phased about moving into the outdoor arena for the Olympics. Stuart said: “We don’t have any indoor facilities for pole vault here in Cornwall, we just get on with it, you have to train in cold weather. When we go outdoors people complain about the wind and Molly says, ‘What wind?’.”
In her final training session before the 2018 Commonwealth Games, when she was England’s youngest athlete at 17, it was snowing. Stuart said: “There is no reason why she cannot do better than she has done already. She is a level-headed person, she knows what she has got to do, she will continue in that way.”
Earning her way as a schoolgirl, with a part-time job in the family cafe, helped to keep her grounded. “She worked as a waitress at my partner’s cafe on the beach, and a place in Truro where she used to earn some money on a Saturday. After winning England schools, she went to Miami for two years, then Covid hit and we got her home to finish off her studies.”
Molly Caudery at her graduation (Molly Caudery Instagram)
Molly came back to the UK to finish her studies after Covid hit (Molly Caudery Instagram)On Tuesday, Molly was off to Italy’s Amalfi coast with her high jumper boyfriend Joel Clarke-Kahn. She heads to New Zealand for Olympic training after celebrating her 24th birthday back in Blighty with her family on March 17. Molly’s online posts, posing in beachwear and lingerie, meant many fans thought that she was a model. Her dad laughed at the idea but added: “I can see why they might think that, and it may lead to other things later in life.
“But they are just her way of relaxing. She has many talents along with the pole vault, she enjoys baking to relax and is really good at it. She was the chief scone maker at the cafe and loves baking cakes. There has been talk of the Great British Bake Off, she would love to do that.” Mum Barbara said her latest victory was the ‘icing on the cake’.
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“She’s always just been our little girl and to think of her as world champion. It might take a little while to adjust to that. We’re very, very, very proud.”
GB athletes Molly Caudery and boyfriend, Joel Clarke-Khan (joelclarkekhan/Instagram)The Great British Vaulter already has a marketing deal with sport giant Adidas. Karen Robilliard (c), track and field chairman at Cornwall Athletics club, told how she bounced back to beat the world. “It has been a whirlwind for her,” she said. “But what she has achieved is just phenomenal after such a bad injury. She and her boyfriend Joel always have time for the youngsters when they come down.
“She is at Loughborough University full-time now, but she wants to set an example for the next generation. And she does just that. It is so important that we keep girls in sport and she is great at that. We are so in awe of her. Our kids absolutely love her and she is so humble and gracious, she always has time for a chat.”
Molly celebrates winning the Silver Medal in the Pole Vault at the 2022 Commonwealth Games (Alamy Stock Photo)Molly also showed plenty of promise as a junior, taking a silver at the 2017 European Athletics U20 Championships in Italy aged 17. She has an army of fans, only Dina Asher-Smith and Katarina Johnson-Thompson boasting more amongst British athletics stars.
And she revels in the spotlight. “I think social media is such a growing factor in sports,” she said. “A lot of people don’t enjoy that. But I actually find some enjoyment in the creativity of it all.”
In Paris, Cornwall’s World No 1 will be hoping create her own piece of history as our first Olympic pole vault champion.
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