Holly Bradshaw shakes off thoughts of quitting to become one of the stars of British athletics, with the pole vaulter recovering from an Achilles injury to make the Diamond League in London

There have been times over the past two years that Holly Bradshaw has questioned whether it was time to call it a day. Whether it was time to bring an end to the exhausting battle which she has been fighting against her own body.

It’s a remarkable admission from a woman who only a few summers ago made British athletics history.

In taking bronze in Tokyo in 2021, Bradshaw became the first Brit to claim an Olympic medal in pole vault and did so by clearing a British record height of 4.9metres.

Some had questioned whether Bradshaw, in the twilight of her career, had already reached the peak of her powers. That medal in Tokyo suggested the best was yet to come.

But competing in a sport which involves propelling her body 16 feet in the air, Bradshaw knows all too well that what goes up must eventually come down.

Holly Bradshaw has fought off her doubts to become one of the highlights of British athletics

The pole vaulter has fought off a recent Achilles injury to make the Diamond League in London

The depths of those lows, however, had made the 30-year-old reconsider her plans to retire following next year’s Olympics in Paris.

‘I was like “How many mirrors have I smashed in the last week?”‘ Bradshaw says of her injury hell. ‘It felt like one thing after another. I wasn’t over-training – I was still doing all the same things I did in the lead-up to Tokyo.

‘It has been hard not to give up, I am not going to lie. There has been a lot of times over the last year especially when I have said “Is it time?”‘

If you were to try and describe the two years since Bradshaw’s Olympic success in a single performance then you would need to look no further than last summer’s World Championships in Oregon.

With an Olympic and European medal already in her collection, last summer’s Worlds was an opportunity to add the missing piece to the jigsaw.

But instead her Championships ended without her having even completed one jump. In her final practice run a freak accident saw Bradshaw’s pole snap as she planted it into the box.

The Brit came crashing down to earth with a bump, landing awkwardly on the back of her neck and injuring her hamstring. Somehow she avoided more significant damage but that misfortune ended up leading to a more sinister sequence of events.

‘It was an unusual kind of injury where I overstretched it [her hamstring] on the landing,’ she explains. ‘They hadn’t ever seen that injury before.

‘I took a punt to try and get ready for the Commonwealth Games two weeks later where I actually worsened the injury and ended up almost needing surgery.

‘In that two-week period it was like my body was in fight or flight (mode). I broke a bone in the top of my back squatting in the gym. I was trying to load my legs without loading my hamstrings.

‘The bar slipped and fractured a bone in the top of my spine. I couldn’t lift my arms for a couple of days.’

Bradshaw believes there is a simple reason behind her run of injuries. The unwavering commitment she had shown during her career to reach the top of her sport – that same drive which helped her to win bronze in Tokyo – ultimately proved too much for her body to take.

‘I really believe that I pushed so hard for the last 10 years to win that [Olympic] medal that my body was telling me “You need some time”,’ says Bradshaw.

‘There were signs along the way that I wasn’t ready to be back training and unfortunately, as athletes do, I ignored them.’

Thankfully things have been looking brighter in 2023. Bradshaw suffered an Achilles injury in April but has recovered in time for this weekend’s London Athletics meet.

She is part of a stellar lineup in the women’s pole vault at the London Stadium which includes Olympic champion Katie Moon and silver medallist Sandi Morris.

And while she is unlikely to be challenging either of the Americans at the top of the leaderboard this weekend, Bradshaw is relishing the opportunity just to be back on the track with a pole in her hand.

She believes the field in London will echo those at the World Championships and the Olympics

With Paris now only a year away, she knows the clock is fast ticking on her career.

‘I’ve spent the last year or so watching these competitions on the TV so it’s nice to be back out there,’ she says. ‘The good thing about the women’s pole vault is nobody shies away. That field in London is pretty much the Worlds final next month in Budapest or the Olympic final next year.

‘I think it helps me as well that I am retiring after Paris. It’s almost like a deadline so I know I have only got this short amount of time to enjoy what I am doing, go out there and pole vault with a smile. That has helped to keep me going.’

The London Athletics meet takes place on Sunday 23 July at the London Stadium. For tickets visit britishathletics.org.uk.