Molly Caudery shoots herself in the foot as her dreams of Olympic gold vanish after crashing out in pole vault qualifying… with Brit choosing and failing to clear height 15cm HIGHER than the progress mark

Molly Caudery stood stationary with her bowed head in her hands. There were nearly 70,000 fans inside this arena but, in that moment, she had never felt more alone.

After five long seconds, Caudery sunk to the landing mat and closed her eyes, before dragging herself back to her feet to clap the crowd, almost in apology. The tears then started to flow as she walked away still struggling to comprehend what had just happened.

The 23-year-old had arrived in Paris as one of Britain’s best hopes for an Olympic gold medal in athletics. Yet she exited the Stade de France stage on Monday having failed to even make the pole vault final, crashing out in qualifying after failing to clear a single bar.

‘I’m currently in shock,’ admitted Caudery, who broke down in tears again as she reflected on her morning of misery. ‘It’s heartbreaking. I’m so disappointed and I am so sorry to everyone back at home who has been supporting me.’

Caudery broke the British record as recently as June, when she cleared 4.92 metres, the highest jump the world this year. It is why she felt confident to begin her Olympic campaign on Monday morning at 4.55m.

The 24-year-old missed all three attempts at her opening height of 4.55 metres

The world indoor champion, though, failed with all three attempts, the last of which saw her almost miss the mat on the way down. To make matters worse, she later learned a height of 4.40m would have been enough for her to get through to Wednesday’s final.

‘People might say that I came in too high but that is not mine or my coach’s opinion,’ insisted Caudery. ‘4.55 is a bar I jump day in, day out. There was not one doubt in my mind that I wasn’t going to clear it. When I have been jumping 4.80 or 4.90 all year round, 4.55 shouldn’t be a problem.

‘When I took my third attempt, I was just in disbelief. I don’t have any excuse. I felt great. I am in the best shape of my life. I love a big crowd. I didn’t feel overly nervous.

‘I don’t have a reason right now for what has just happened. It is going to take a little bit of time to process.’

Caudery was consoled by her fellow competitors before she left the stadium. But moments earlier, she had been a shoulder to cry on for her team-mate Holly Bradshaw, who also bowed out after failing at 4.40m.

‘I’m just crushed,’ said Bradshaw, who won a bronze medal at Tokyo 2020 and is retiring at the end of the season. ‘It’s been a really hard year and I wanted to come out and do myself proud – and I really feel like I haven’t.’

‘I just wanted to come out and do my dad proud. He passed away in November, and I really hope that I did that even though it didn’t go well.

‘My priority is to be a mum now, so I want to start a family with my husband.’