'Quite stressful': How a GB pole vaulter transports poles across world to Tokyo

'Honestly one of the hardest things of pole vault is getting the poles around the world' says GB star who is aiming to bounce back from heartache of Paris Olympics at World Athletics Championship in Japan; qualification begins in the early hours of Monday morning (UK time)

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Team GB pole vaulter Molly Caudery explains the tricky logistics as she transports her competition poles from Great Britain to Tokyo for the World Athletics Championships.

Team GB pole vaulter Molly Caudery explains the tricky logistics as she transports her competition poles from Great Britain to Tokyo for the World Athletics Championships.

Team GB pole vault star Molly Caudery is preparing to overcome adversity when she takes to the track at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo - but she has already overcome one of her toughest challenges of the year.

Getting her poles to Japan.

Pole vaulting can be tough - medal hope Caudery missed out on last year's Olympic final after failing to clear the bar in qualifying - but the 25-year-old reckons the logistical challenge of getting her core equipment to the other side of the world is "one of the hardest things" about her sport.

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Elite-level poles can be more than five metres long and Caudery ties hers to the roof of her car when travelling to British competitions and airports - but many airlines will not carry such a large piece of equipment.

In fact, Caudery believes pole transportation could be a full-time job.

"Honestly one of the hardest things of pole vault is getting the poles around the world," she told Sky Sports.

"I always say, if I could get one person to do one thing, it would be a complete "pole carrier" job. Someone just to do it for me because it can be quite stressful.

"But this time, British Athletics have been amazing at figuring out which airlines to travel with and making some exceptions, because lots of airlines don't carry poles any more, which makes it even harder.

"Sometimes we have to take detours around the world to get to places, but I actually got really lucky and got on a direct flight to Tokyo with my poles.

"They can fit on a plane because they can fit on a bus. They aren't quite maybe as big as people think, but I do get a lot of funny looks walking through the airport."

Medal chances in Japan

Now that Caudery - and her poles - have arrived safely in Japan, she can turn her attention to delivering a medal for Britain after her heartache in Paris last summer.

She skipped a number of tournaments this season to allow a minor calf injury to heal, but that has allowed her to find form and focus as she bids to improve on her fifth place at the last World Championships in 2023.

"The ups and downs are inevitable, but I really do think I'm in a good place," she added.

"It's not been the perfect season or quite the season I imagined. I've had to deal with a few setbacks due to injury and things like that, but I feel like I've bounced back just in time.

"I missed a few competitions earlier on in the year, but I feel like actually that's allowed me to be fresh for now and that's a great place to be.

"I had my breakthrough a couple of years ago in Budapest at the last World Championships, so I can't wait to go out at this one and see what I can do."

After an injury-hit season, she jumped 4.85m to win the British title last month before taking second in a competitive Diamond League event in Brussels.

She hinted she has been holding some form in reserve to protect her body, but is willing to take risks in Tokyo as she bids to topple her own British record of 4.92m.

"I jumped 4.80m at my last Diamond League and just missed out. I came second, but that's still a very solid performance.

"Taking that confidence into a Worlds is great. It just kind of proves that you can.

"I was ill in Budapest a few weeks ago competing, but if I take that out, I've jumped 4.80m or 4.85m very consistently over the last few competitions.

"I do think there's more I can jump. I know I can jump higher.

"Like I said, we've just been dealing with a couple of little injuries, so in competition, I've either stopped or just tried to keep a cap on it.

"I think here we would like to take that cap off and just see how high I can go."

'I'll just give it everything'

Caudery is a former World Indoor champion, but insists that achievement is nowhere near as big as winning a major outdoor medal.

She entered qualifying in Paris last year at 4.55m - 35cm higher than any of her rivals - and it proved a costly mistake as she failed to register a height.

She hopes to atone for that Olympic heartache in Los Angeles in 2028, but is first dreaming of victory at the Japan National Stadium this week.

"Of course, Olympics is the number one dream, but just below that is being a world champion or a world medallist.

"Of course, that's what I'm aiming for, although this time I'm not going to get caught up in thinking about the final too much. I've got to get through that qualification first, of course.

"Once I hopefully get there, I'll just give it everything.

"It's a huge, huge goal of mine. Of course, having an indoor global medal is a big deal, but it doesn't really compare to the outdoor medals, in my opinion.

"I'd really like to have a strong comeback and prove what I can do out there."