The Commonwealth pole vault silver medallist explains how she managed to overcome serious injury to reach new heights in 2022

The sensitive content warning that accompanies Molly Caudery’s Instagram post is an intriguing conversation starter. The 22-year-old Commonwealth Games pole vault silver medallist this summer almost lost a finger in a gym accident a year ago and the hidden image, which is optional to view, presents a graphic account of her traumatic experience.

“When I first did it I didn’t look down, I just thought: ‘I’ll shake it off, it’s probably not as bad as I think’, and it was worse. A lot worse,” she recalls.  

“I’d gone home [to Cornwall] for the Christmas holidays and I was carrying on with my normal gym programme. I was doing snatch, and as I brought the bar down from above my head I caught my finger between the bar and where you rack it, and it just went straight through. It was hanging on by a thread, really.”

Caudery ended up having three surgeries, with the first on Christmas Eve. 

“It was tough [getting through that injury period], because leading up to Christmas I was in the best shape I’d ever been in,” she admits. “I had this traumatic event. It was unexpected. It wasn’t like a pulled hamstring. I mean, I basically chopped my finger off.”

The 12 months since then have been a whirlwind, with a return to competition at the start of May, a lifetime best of 4.60m at the end of May and an intense schedule of World Championships, Commonwealth Games and European Championships providing a condensed summer. 

“That PB set me up for the rest of the season,” says Caudery, who had jumped her previous best (4.53m) as an 18-year-old. “One of my main aims for this year was to be more consistent at higher heights and I’ve achieved that.

“I had a bit of a disappointment at the World Champs, but just to get there was a massive step. I came back at the Commonwealths, which was amazing, and then I finished on a high with a top eight at the Europeans, so overall it was my best year yet.” 

Caudery is a former European under-20 silver medallist (2017), a world under-20 finalist (2018) and European under-23 silver medallist (2021). Her performance CV is impressive, but since earning her first England senior vest and finishing fifth at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, injury is not the only hurdle she has had to overcome.

Most notably, having taken up a scholarship at the University of Miami in 2018, she soon realised that her “amazing” life experience was coming at a cost athletically.

“I was barely jumping 4m out there,” she says. “I loved it, but I didn’t thrive in my athletics and that was my priority. I decided to come home in 2020 and give it my best shot.”

Caudery returned to the UK at the start of the pandemic and relocated to Loughborough, where she is now in her final year studying sports science. Coached by Scott Simpson and training alongside Olympic bronze medallist and British record-holder Holly Bradshaw, she has put herself in the highest of performance environments. 

“I’ve got a great support system, I’ve got a great routine and I’m surrounded by so many other athletes who put you in the right performance mindset,” she says. 

“Scott is one of the best pole vault coaches in the world, so having the opportunity to work with him and learn from him has been amazing. Training with Holly has been great, too, and she’s always really open to giving me advice. Every day I get to learn from her.”

The move to Loughborough has been central to Caudery’s progression between Commonwealth cycles, as has the natural maturity that comes with age and experience. 

“Everyone has to face challenges in their career, but I think you become stronger in the face of adversity,” she says. “I’m now in a place where I know exactly what I want, I know my goals and I’d pretty much do anything to get them.”