Why Molly Caudery is playing it safe in 2026

Former world pole vault champion explains why she’ll be exercising caution off the track as she aims to seize the many major opportunities that await this year.

Molly Caudery is taking no risks ahead of a 2026 summer that includes the European Championships, Commonwealth Games and World Athletics Ultimate Championships. “I don’t even run for a train now because I wouldn’t want to run without warming up,” she says.

The British pole vault record-holder and 2024 world indoor champion says her “clumsiness” has led to several injuries in the past. Most notably she sliced her finger badly when a weightlifting session went wrong four years ago. At the World Championships in Tokyo last year, she ruptured tendons and ligaments in her ankle after catching her foot on the mat during a run-up in warm-up, although to be fair it was probably more a case of freakishly bad luck than pure clumsiness on that occasion.

“I’ve pretty much taken out all of my risks,” she says. “If I can roll my ankle doing what I do, then I don’t risk doing anything else. I am really clumsy and a lot of my injuries have come from being clumsy which is not ideal!”

She is more confident of avoiding problems when vaulting, though. “On the runway it’s so natural to me and I know where everything is. I could almost do it with my eyes closed. I’m almost faster with a pole than without a pole. It’s as though this is what I was born to do. But as soon as I’m off that runway it’s not good. I can easily trip over my own feet.”

This means no ice skating over Christmas and definitely no skiing holidays. After being brought up on the north Cornish coast, though, she finds it hard to resist an occasional surfing session. “Surfing is just about the only thing I would do,” she says, “because I trust myself doing it. But there’s definitely no ice skating or skiing or anything like that. It doesn’t sound like much but those are the small choices you make.”

Her clumsiness, she says, “stresses most people out”. She explains: “My mum is always on edge. My coach (Scott Simpson) also tells me to be sensible. When I nearly chopped my finger off (Christmas 2021), that was a breaking point really. Had to drive from Cornwall to Derby to get surgery, which was a bit of a palaver.”

Luckily she doesn’t have any lingering after effects from her injuries either. “My finger that had surgery doesn’t quite bend as it used to, but it doesn’t affect my pole vaulting as it’s my bottom hand and the pressure comes through my palm.

“Away from the pole vault runway I just try to stay safe and wrap myself in bubble wrap as much as possible!”

The 25-year-old is chatting to AW from her Loughborough home shortly before travelling down to spend Christmas with family. After Tokyo she spent several weeks with her foot in a boot, so she has spent the early part of the winter working on basic fitness and conditioning. As we speak she is just about to put spikes on again for the first time and tackle a pole vault runway in training.

Looking back on 2025, she says: “It’s definitely not what I was hoping for coming into the year. There were lots of ups and downs. Probably more downs than ups really.

“I had a really great winter’s training and then on my last day of camp in South Africa I got a little hamstring tear and from there I had no consistency all the way through to Tokyo when I blew up my ankle. 

“It was frustrating as I didn’t get the chance to train how I’d like to train. We didn’t do a single speed session because it was my hamstring, then my calf and Achilles – and all over the place. 

“But to have the year I did and still jump 4.85m and be around that mark consistently was the one thing that kept me going. Tokyo was heart breaking. Especially after Paris (she inexplicably failed 4.55m in qualifying at the Olympics) I wanted to put myself back out there and get in the fight for a medal. But it was pretty much over before it started which was pretty much out of my control and really unlucky.”

On the injury in Tokyo, she adds: “It’s really rare. I’ve not seen anyone whose done it apart from maybe a couple of long jumpers who have done it when landing. I didn’t break bones but ruptured a couple of tendons and ligaments.”

On reflection, she adds: “I’m still quite new to the big league scene so not every year is going to be amazing. So to have a bad year jumping those kind of heights is a good thing.”

This will start this year training in South Africa. The World Indoor Championships in Poland is a possibility, too, but only if she feels she is 100 per cent. 

“I won’t do a full indoor season although I’ll hopefully go to the World Indoor Champs,” she says, clearly keen to retain the crown she won so brilliantly in Glasgow almost two years ago. “But I don’t want to go there in anything but 100% shape.

She then plans to train in Turkey in April before hitting the competition circuit and the triple whammy of Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, European Championships in Birmingham and World Ultimate Championships in Budapest. 

“I’m really excited for the summer,” she says. “I think it’s going to be so much fun having Commies and Europeans in the UK and then the Ultimate Championships as the last event of the season in Budapest.

“I will definitely try to do them all. At the Commies it’s a straight final and then the Europeans a couple of weeks later the qualification round shouldn’t be too bad. And then a straight final in Budapest too. So it’s not too dissimilar to jumping around on the Diamond League circuit.”

On the new Ultimate Championships, she adds: “They’re pouring a lot of money into it which is always an incentive for athletes. For non-Commonwealth and European people I think this will be their most important event of the year.”

There is also the mouthwatering prospect of jumping at a street athletics event on Oxford Street in central London on the Diamond League weekend.

“I think it could be the highlight of the year,” she says excitedly. “It would be amazing, so exciting for the sport. 

“I saw women’s pole vault isn’t in London Diamond League in 2026 and I’ve not done that well there over the years but want to keep going until I win there. Then a few days alter I heard they might put on a street meet in Oxford Street, which would be the best competition in the world to be honest.”

Caudery’s presence in a city centre pole vault in the British capital would also benefit British athletics. Since her world indoor victory in particular, her profile has exploded. On instagram she has around 400,000 followers and sponsorship deals with Adidas, Red Bull and NordicTrack treadmills and cross-training machines. 

Caudery has enjoyed a number of street pole vault events in recent seasons. She says jumping at the railway station in Zurich is a great experience. The Fly Athens pole vault meet organised by fellow vaulter Emmanouil “Manolo” Karalis – an event that unfolds against the backdrop of the historic and picturesque Panathenaic Stadium – is another of her favourite events.

“They’re so much fun and bring in a great crowd and they’re great for the crowd and the audience,” says Caudery, who won the Athens event with 4.80m last July too.

What’s more, her British record of 4.92m came at a street meet – the Toulouse Capitole Perche – in France in 2024. It is a performance that puts her No.7 on the world all-time rankings. 

Sometimes the street meetings don’t end well, though. Her final competition before Tokyo last year was a street meet in Italy, but her event was rained off although the men’s event went ahead the following day.

But for someone who has travelled the circuit so extensively during her short career already, what is her favourite venue, with the exception of her home track of ‘Carn Brea’ in Cornwall, of course. “London is always hard to beat,” she smiles. “And Budapest really stuck with me. Coming fifth there (World Champs in 2023) was a turning point for me. So for the World Ultimate Champs to be there this year is exciting. Monaco is also beautiful and Paris was also a beautiful stadium although I’ve kind of blanked that out for obvious reasons!”

As world indoor champion, does she prefer jumping indoors or out? She chooses the latter. 

“I prefer outdoors because it just means more. Outdoors means more, there’s no pressure and not everyone does it. Being world indoor champ is great but it doesn’t have the weight of a world outdoor title. They have positives and negatives, as the wind and rain outdoors isn’t good, but on balance I prefer outdoors.”

To prepare for this summer, she says: “We’re not pushing too hard in training and doing anything crazy. I’d just like some consistency and then I’ll be in great shape.”

Some better luck in the clumsiness department would be a bonus too.