British pole vaulter Holly Bleasdale came away from Saturday’s Pole Vault Elite Tour meeting in Orleans, France, having broken her own UK record.
Bleasdale, 20, has had a great summer, improving her personal best by 35 centimetres, breaking the UK record and winning the European Under-23 title.
Competing off just a 12-stride approach in France, she cleared 4.36m and 4.51m at the first time of asking.
Two attempts were needed at 4.61m, but then Bleasdale upped the bar to 4.71m and she cleared it on her first try. She ended with three failed attempts at 4.81m, but had done more than enough to win the competition, finishing 20cm ahead of Frenchwoman Vanessa Boslak.
As the performance exceeds the UK outdoor record, Bleasdale’s 4.71m becomes the absolute UK record, beating the previous UK indoor best of 4.60m, set by Kate Dennison in 2010.
Bleasdale now ranks at No.12 on the world indoor all-time list and her 4.71m is the best ever performance achieved in the month of December, suggesting there could be a lot more to come by the end of the indoor season and indeed through the summer of 2012.
"I was so happy when I cleared 4.61m but when I cleared 4.71m I was ecstatic!" said Bleasdale.
"I knew I had capabilities of getting 4.61 but getting 4.71 in competition was such a surprise.
"Training has been going amazing and I was really confident and just wanted to have fun seeing as it was just a small competition off a short approach (12 strides) and I did not taper for it.
"I can't wait to see what I can vault off 16 strides."
