When Molly Caudery casts her mind back on last season, it will be a recollection of the agony and ecstasy of the pole vault.

First, she announced herself on the biggest stage at the World Indoor Championships by winning gold, leading to high hopes of a potential golden summer in Paris. But the wished-for cheers turned to tears as the British athlete stuttered under the pressure of qualifying and failed to make the final.

The heartbreak seems only to have acted as a catalyst to pick up where she left off in her last indoor season, and she recently topped the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold standings, earning her a wild card to form part of a relatively small contingent of British athletes travelling to the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 25.

Casting her mind back to Paris, she said: “I felt great, the best shape of my life. I didn’t feel too nervous. I love a big crowd. I don’t know why but it wasn’t my day. I wish I would have done better but I am going to try learn from this and I will take everything I can from it.”

She cleared 4.80m to win her world indoor title in Glasgow, a height she has eclipsed already in 2025 with victory in Madrid with a 4.85m vault.

Despite clearing 4.85m, she is not No.1 on the season top list, that position instead held by USA’s Amanda Moll with 4.91m in Indianapolis, where she finished 10cm ahead of her sister Hana. Neither of the siblings will make the trip across to China.

Instead, the US berths are filled by Gabriela Leon and Emily Grove who have clearances of 4.66m and 4.65m respectively this year. That means that Katie Moon, who got bronze behind Caudery and Eliza McCartney in Glasgow last year, will also not be in Nanjing.

But there are all manner of European threats. Continental champion Angelica Moser of Switzerland has cleared 4.80m this year, while Slovenia’s Tina Sutej, French vaulter Marie-Julie Bonnin, Italian Roberta Bruni and Finn Elina Lampela have all cleared 4.70m or higher already this season.

Sutej claimed world indoor bronze in 2022 and recently secured silver behind Moser at the European Indoor Championships, where bronze went to Bonnin.

Matt Majendie for World Athletics

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Win probability: 1 Molly Caudery (GBR) 53.87%, 2 Angelica Moser (SUI) 27.87%, 3 Tina Sutej (SLO) 6.76%
(This win probability is powered entirely by data and driven by AI technology. More information)

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