EVERY Olympics creates new sporting stars and Molly Caudery looks set to be one of the faces of Paris 2024, writes James Reid.

The 24-year-old has enjoyed a meteoric rise to become one of the leading contenders for gold in the women’s pole vault this summer, breaking the British record and setting world leads on the way.

Before this year, the Cornish athlete was a fairly unknown name but a pair of world leading jumps at the start of 2024 followed by World Indoor gold in Glasgow catapulted her into the public consciousness.

That a bronze medal at June’s European Championships was tinged with slight disappointment was a sign of just how far she has come.

She bounced back in style, breaking teammate Holly Bradshaw’s British record with a jump of 4.92m to solidify her status as one of Team GB’s best hopes of an athletics gold in Paris.

But the 24-year-old’s feet remain on the ground, when not competing, as she adapts to being the one to beat.

“You have to embrace it all, I am living my dream and I am so grateful for that,” she said after winning World Indoor gold back in March.

“I want all of that, I want people’s media attention, it is all part of it. I am just so grateful for it all and I just use it to help me.

“I have got such a great support team around me and they are never going to let my head get too big or anything like that.

“I am just so grateful to be where I am, that will keep me grounded too and never take anything for granted.”

Caudery’s gold in Glasgow was undoubtedly the turning point that confirmed her as real medal hope rather than outside chance.

It was history too, as she became the first woman to win the world indoor pole vault title. That she did so on an electric night when home star Josh Kerr also won gold further elevated the achievement in the memories of those watching.

The images of Caudery clad in a crown and wrapped in the Union Jack are sure to be enduring - at least until they are perhaps replaced by an even more iconic set of snaps in Paris.

“It is just unbelievable,” she reflected. “It was such a special moment to do it in front of a home crowd, family watching and everyone from all over the nation supporting too.

“My expectations have absolutely changed. My original view for the future was always LA 2028, that was the Olympic Games that I would be focusing on to get a medal, everything up until then was just building.

“But now I think I have come to where I am so quickly, I need to adjust to that a little and then have those conversations.”

An Olympic medal would be the crowing achievement of a rapid rise for Caudery that began in Cornwall, and will arrive in Paris via Miami, Loughborough, and New Zealand.

The 24-year-old was born into a pole vaulting family, with mum Barbara, dad Stuart, who was also her first coach, and brother Finley all competing.

A childhood in Cornwall meant athletics had to be balanced alongside surfing, though her Olympic aims have put time on the waves in hold for now.

“I don't want to be doing anything too crazy in an Olympic year,” she said. “I love going home to Cornwall, being in the sea and surfing.

“I used to love skydiving, which I'm not able to do at the minute, but I will pick it up when I am done with my career.”

Her talents led her to the University of Miami before she returned to the UK to train alongside Bradshaw at Loughborough under Scott Simpson. Caudery followed Simpson to New Zealand to prepare for Paris.

Though she may have spent much of her time before the Games on the other side of the world, Caudery has kept her over 250,000 Instagram followers regularly up to date.

It makes her one of the most followed Team GB athletes, and the 24-year-old is happy to embrace her status as a social media star.

“I think social media, whether people like it or not is definitely such a growing factor in sports,” she said.

“A lot of people don't enjoy that, but I actually find some enjoyment in the creativity of it all and it gives me something else to do."

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