Love powers athletics couple's Olympic hopes

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From the high jump bar to the pole vault runway, British Athletics looks to have a new golden couple - and their love looks to be taking them to new heights.

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High jumper Joel Clarke-Khan and pole vaulter Molly Caudrey started their 2026 season off in winning style, both claiming gold at the Indoor Championships in Birmingham last month.

Only three years ago, Clarke-Khan looked to have the world at his feet.

But a series of toe injuries, combined with the disappointment of missing out on the Olympics in 2024, left him questioning his future in the sport

The 26-year-old, from Worcester, admitted he came close to walking away altogether.

But those doubts are now a distant memory and he credited the encouragement of his fiancee, Caudery, as a key factor in his successful comeback.

"Molly took off over the last few years and became pretty much one of the best pole vaulters in the world," he said.

"I almost went in the opposite direction. I lost form and confidence and that was a real struggle for me, especially the first few months to a year."

Clarke-Khan said Caudrey was a huge support to him through his loss of confidence [PA Media]

For her part, Caudery said it could be tough balancing their relationship along with their athletics careers but they had to navigate it.

"I broke onto the scene and started doing very well and Joel had just broken his foot," the 25-year-old, from Truro, Cornwall, said.

"I felt sorry for Joel but at the same time I felt ecstatic I'd just won the Indoor Championships."

As life partners and fellow competitors, the pair have shared the highs and lows of elite athletics together.

"I'd say this current period we are in right now is the first time that we both are on top, doing well for a while and it's such a nice feeling," Caudery told the BBC.

"My parents were there to watch Joel and Joel's parents were there to watch me, it was like a big extended family event.

"It doesn't happen very often and that's the dream.

"That weekend in a nutshell is the moments you'll hold onto forever. Maybe we can do it at the Olympics. Imagine that, on a global stage that would be the dream."

The couple said they approached their careers in four-year Olympic cycles and were currently basing the bulk of their training at Loughborough University, one of the UK's leading high-performance athletics hubs.

"We used to actually train everyday together but now we're kind of separate; however on the days we do get to do it together it's good fun," Clarke-Khan said.

"A lot of people say how do you do it, 'is it not intense?' There is nothing I'd rather do than the thing I love with the person that I love."

The couple said they were aiming to clear even bigger heights going into the European Championships this summer and plan to marry after the Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles.

Molly Caudery won the women's pole vault at this year's Indoor Championships in Birmingham. [PA Media]

Caudery who is taking part in World Athletics Indoor Championships on Sunday, credited their collaborative training as benefiting them both.

"We often go on training camps together and that's the best time of our lives," she said.

"So we'll go to South Africa or Turkey and have just three weeks training hard every day, getting up together doing what we love, which is the best.

"I definitely get more nervous watching Joel than competing myself - I think it's so much harder when you're not in control."

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