By Paul Eddison at the Stade de France
Molly Caudery broke down in tears after seeing her Olympic dreams shattered at the Stade de France as she failed to clear a height in the women’s pole vault qualification.
The 24-year-old former Loughborough University student was tipped as a gold medal contender after winning the World Indoor Championships earlier this year as well as breaking the British record with a jump of 4.92m, making her the best performer of 2024.
But the Olympic stage is very different to any other event, and Caudery never got to grips with it on her debut.
Electing to start at a height of 4.55m, Caudery failed on all three attempts, missing out on a place in the final, where those who cleared 4.40m went through.
Both Molly Caudery and Holly Bradshaw have not qualified for the women's pole vault final.#WhereItStarts | #Athletics | #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/MNepXKkOGY
— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) August 5, 2024
It was a huge disappointment for her personally, and she could contain the emotions when reflecting on how it had gone wrong.
She said: “I’m currently in a little bit of a shock. I’m so disappointed and I’m so sorry to everyone back at home who has been supporting me.
“I don’t have any excuse, I felt great, I’m in the best shape of my life, I love a big crowd. I didn’t feel overly nervous. I don’t have a reason for what just happened. I believe everything is a lesson and I’ll find out in time. It’s just going to take a little bit of time to process.
“Normally, on my first event, you want to clear it first time, of course. But I’d been waiting around for a little while, needed to get my legs moving and when I went in for my second attempt, in my mind, there was no way I wasn’t going to clear it. When I took that third attempt, I was just in disbelief.”
Caudery was the only athlete to start her competition at 4.55m, with the rest of the field beginning at a lower height.
But she refused to pin the blame for her elimination on the decision not to ease herself into the event.
She added: "4.55 is a bar that I jump day in, day out. There is not one piece of doubt in my mind that I was going to clear it. Some people will say that I came in too high but that is definitely not my coach’s or my opinion.
"When I’ve been jumping 4.80, 4.90 all year round, 4.55 shouldn’t be a problem. I don’t think I would have cleared it if it was 4.40. It was just a really unfortunate day. I’ll go and talk to my coach to work out what went wrong.
"I don’t think anyone puts more pressure on myself than I do. I went in with a dream, I felt confident, I didn’t feel too much pressure from everyone else.
"I do enjoy a big crowd, this is my first time in this kind of environment. I don’t think that is what went wrong today. I don’t know what happened but it just wasn’t my day."
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