Paris Olympics athlete, Holly Bradshaw says she sees Blackburn athletics club as her sporting home

Great Britain's first ever Olympic pole vault medallist, Holly Bradshaw has said she owes much of her journey to an athletics club in Blackburn.

The 32-year-old athlete from Chorley, originally turned pro in 2010 and has explained how she sees the Blackburn Harriers Athletic Club as her sporting home.   

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Bradshaw first took to gymnastics at the age of six, which then later grew into an interest to try pole vaulting for the first time at 17.  

Since then, Bradshaw has consistently been amongst the world’s top rankings, scoring an impressive bronze medal at the last games in Tokyo.

Speaking to GiveMeSport, she said: “I started at an athletics club at the age of 14 or 15, when I was transitioning out of football and was starting the hurdles.

“I trained for that once a week, and then did a bit of the high jump and the shot put, wherever they needed me to make up the numbers.

“And my club Blackburn Harriers kind of thought, we're missing a trick here. Nobody else in the whole of the North West is doing pole vault. We're going to competitions and there's no one doing it.

“So if we can just get some crazy girl over the opening bar, we’ll get maximum points. And I was that crazy girl.”

Under the coaching of Kate Rooney and the range of facilities at the athletics club, it is hoped that she can recreate the success of 2021 at this year’s Paris Olympics.  

The Chorley-born star remains the British record holder for both indoors and outdoors women pole vaulting, enduring as a role model to young people up and down the country. 

Holly said: “The club put on six weeks of taster classes and I was there for every single one. 

“Blackburn can be very brutal weather wise, so raining, windy, whatever, I was there. It just spiralled out of control from that very moment.”

The Blackburn Harriers Athletic Club is one of many local clubs that rely heavily on fundraising to deliver their services to their local communities. 

Leading fundraising platform easyfundraising has helped grassroots athletics clubs across the UK, raise over £50,000 so far, which will only continue to rise during thIS summer’s Olympics.

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Today the Blackburn harriers continue to train the next generation of Team GB, expanding their facilities like the Witton Park arena that opened in 2015. 

Fundraising with initiatives like easyfundraising ensures clubs like this have a sustainable future in their local communities.   

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