Paris Olympic Games 2024: 'Adrenaline junkie' Molly Caudery to live out childhood dream with Team Great Britain
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Published 25/07/2024 at 11:02 GMT+1
Molly Caudery has been raising the bar higher and higher this season, and a national record in June has many tipping her for gold on her Olympic debut. The pole vaulter has already got European and world medals under her belt, but in an exclusive interview with Eurosport, the 24-year-old says she is not feeling the pressure ahead of the 2024 Paris Games.
Olympic legends to lead Eurosport coverage of Paris 2024
Video credit: TNT Sports
It has been quite the year for “adrenaline junkie” Molly Caudery and the pole vault ace will be living her childhood dream at Paris 2024.
Personal bests have tumbled ever since the 24-year-old first donned the British crown last summer, literally raising the bar from 4.71m to a national record of 4.92m last month.
The world leader has scooped plenty of medals in the interim, including a world indoor gold in Glasgow in March, an achievement Caudery said “flipped [her] life upside down”.
A European bronze followed in June before Caudery confirmed her Team GB spot for the Olympics as back-to-back national champion, a week after breaking the British record.
“It feels absolutely amazing,” said Caudery in an exclusive interview with Eurosport ahead of her Olympic debut at Paris.
“This has been my absolute dream, my childhood dream, and I’m really getting to live it.
“The Olympics, it’s just the pinnacle, isn’t it? I remember watching London 2012 from my grandma’s living room, watching Jess Ennis and Usain Bolt and just thinking, ‘that’s who I want to be’. Ever since then, I’ve done everything I can to make it be me.”
Pole vault is not the most common pastime, something Caudery freely acknowledges.
But the Truro-born jumper instantly connected with the sport at age 11, after seven years practising gymnastics.
“From there I just fell in love with it,” said Caudery. “It’s just so much fun and there’s nothing else I’d rather do.
“I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie. I love anything that excites me and pole vault does that.
“I definitely go into a flow state. It just feels amazing. As you’re going over the bar, you’re looking to see if you’ve cleared it or not.
“So you’ve got about a split second to celebrate or commiserate. It kind of feels like you’re flying. For me, there’s no feeling that comes close to it.”
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Some are tipping Caudery to grab gold in Paris, but she faces stiff competition in the form of American Olympic champion Katie Moon and joint-world champion Nina Kennedy of Australia.
Neither have matched Caudery’s personal best this season, though, and the Commonwealth Games silver medallist is hoping her passion will overcome any pressure.
Caudery said: “I quite enjoy it. People say, ‘are you going to crumble under the pressure'? Or what are the media saying, what are the fans and the public saying?
“But at the end of the day, I love this sport, I love what I do, I love competing. So for me to be out there doing everything I love, I don’t feel all the external pressures, I’m just enjoying the moment.
“Technically I know exactly what I need to do and I just need to execute that on the day.”
discovery+ is the streaming home of the Olympic Games, and the only place you can watch every moment of Paris 2024 this summer.
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