Pole-vaulter Holly happy to be under radar in medal bid

HOLLY BRADSHAW is happy being in the shadows going into tomorrow’s pole vault final.

Unlike Dina Asher-Smith, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Laura Muir, she has gone into the Olympics relatively unnoticed.

And the 29-year-old (right) said: “What doesn’t push me is someone being like, ‘You’re a favourite’. You won’t see me being the centre of attention. That’s not my personality, so being under the radar is a good thing and I definitely feel like I am.”

Bradshaw is ranked No3 in the world after breaking the British record with a 4.90m clearance.

She has finished inside the top eight of every global outdoor championships since London 2012, bar the 2013 Worlds, which she missed through injury. Now the challenge is a podium place — and she insists she is no longer burdened by a fear of failure.

“For a long time I felt like that,” said Bradshaw. “But now, if I got a career-ending injury, I would be content with my career.

“Could I have jumped higher? Probably. Could I have won medals? Probably. But you can be in the best shape and if something goes wrong on the day, that’s it.”

These had been set to be Bradshaw’s last Olympics, but that retirement is being shifted. “I had a chat with my husband and he was like, ‘How can you retire when you’ve just jumped the ninth-best height ever and your PB?’,” she said. “After having such a good year, I don’t want to retire when I’m still in 4.90m shape. So Paris [in 2023] is back on the table.”