IT IS OFTEN said it can be lonely at the top. If that were applied to British athletics, there is possibly no athlete to whom it is more apt and that sense of isolation in superiority more apparent than pole vaulter Holly Bradshaw.
No contest: Bradshaw faces little challenge in domestic meets
The 24-year-old British record-holder’s domination in her discipline is never starker than when she competes at the national championships. This year, with all of her competition having completed their attempts at heights ranging from 3.60m to 4.15m, Bradshaw, after watching for the best part of two hours, entered with the bar at 4.34m and sauntered up off a 14-step run-up to pop herself over. Just like that, competing well within herself, she was once more the British champion.