British pole vault record-holder to compete for the first time since the 2014 World Indoors this weekend

Holly Bradshaw (n e Bleasdale) is set to return to competitive action at the Welsh Championships in Cardiff on Sunday (June 28).

The British pole vault record-holder last competed at the World Indoor Championships in March 2014 before announcing that she would be taking a break from competitive action with her long-term success in mind.

The 23-year-old struggled with injury in 2013 and was forced to miss the World Championships in Moscow due to back and Achilles problems.

When announcing her decision to take a break, she said: “My long-term success is of the utmost importance to me, with Rio 2016 and London 2017 being my major targets.”

On Monday she tweeted: “Really looking forward to competing in the @WelshAthletics championships this Sunday. #lovecompeting #superexcited #2015 #RoadToBeijing”

Bradshaw, who trains in Cardiff and has a best of 4.87m indoors and 4.71m outdoors, is set to go up against the likes of Commonwealth Games silver medallist Sally Peake in the Welsh capital at the weekend.

Elsewhere, Rhys Williams is due to contest the 400m hurdles as he looks to successfully defend his Welsh title. Welsh discus record-holder Brett Morse is another athlete chasing a World Championships qualifying standard having recovered from the injury which forced him to withdraw from the past weekend’s European Team Championships.

Three of the four sprinters who broke the women’s 4x100m Welsh record in Glasgow last summer – Hannah Brier, Mica Moore and Hannah Thomas – are also set to battle in both the 100m and 200m.

“The Welsh Senior Championships provide an exciting opportunity for our athletes to compete in front of a passionate home crowd in one of our biggest track and field events of the year,” commented Welsh Athletics head of performance, Scott Simpson.

“In a non-Commonwealth Games year it is understandable some of our senior athletes are unable to attend as they focus on the following weekend’s UK Championships and qualification for the European Under-23 Championships and World Championships later this year.

“This gives some of our up-and-coming talent the chance to make a name for themselves and is great to see so many talented young athletes – such as Hannah Brier, Adele Nicoll and Jac Palmer – coming through the ranks and continuing to support the Welsh Championships.”

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