The ninth series of the game changers podcast got underway with an interview with Britain’s most successful pole vaulter Holly Bradshaw.

During an inspiring conversation, Bradshaw discussed the importance of sports psychology, body confidence and clothing for female athletes, and future plans.

The Olympic bronze medallist, who grew up in Lancashire, started by describing how she got into pole vault, revealing she started the sport after “the stars aligned”.

“I'd always been like a really sporty child doing gymnastics, football, badminton, rounders – I even tried the 800 metres and cross country, just because it got me out of lessons,” she laughed.

“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.”

Bradshaw continued: “They 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 30-year-old credited her mum for providing her with ‘gentle persuasion’ when shyness and anxiety proved to be a stumbling block.

Bradshaw explained how she had been a very nervous child, but that she had been transformed by sport.

“Sport has been amazing for taking me out of my shell,” she said. “As a child, I was really, really nervous and anxious.

I told my mom recently that I once rang her and said I had stomach cramps when I was at an athletics day in Blackpool.

“I don’t know what had happened, but I just got so anxious and so overwhelmed that I rang her and faked a stomach cramp just so she would come and pick me back up.

“I don't judge myself, but I just can't relate to that girl back then. It seems so far away from where I am now.

From an anxious child to an Olympic medallist – Bradshaw’s journey has been extraordinary. During her career, she has earned a bronze at the 2012 World Indoor Championships and a gold medal at the 2013 European Indoor Championships.

Another bronze at the 2018 European Championships and a silver at the 2019 European Indoor Championships then followed.

Bradshaw has also experienced a number of near misses, however, and has struggled with injury and mental health issues at points in her career.

“It was incredibly frustrating because I was branded a bit of a child prodigy and then went through four or five years of not achieving so much success,” she said.

“And I'm being harsh on myself, because when I said I didn't achieve that much success, I finished fifth in Rio, six in the World Championships, and fourth in the World Championships.

“I was incredibly successful because medaling at a major Championships is so, so hard. But I knew when I first started, I knew I could be an Olympic or world medallist. I knew I could be a global medallist and it just wasn't happening for me.”

Bradshaw worried that injuries would mean she would never become an Olympic or world medallist, but that all changed at Tokyo 2020.

“I was talented. I was really headstrong. I never ran through, but maybe my body just couldn't deal with being a global medalist. Maybe I couldn't do the training I needed and stay healthy to win one.

“I was kind of coming around to that thinking, you know, maybe that's just my weakness. But I was really lucky that I managed to get three years of consistent uninterrupted training and it just built really nicely to this Olympics.

Bradshaw is now studying for a Masters in Sport Psychology at Loughborough University, having realised how intrinsically mental health and performance is linked.

She revealed how she had “disregarded” sport psychology at the start of her career, but then started working with sports psychologist Sarah Cecil.

“She just opened my eyes to like the possibilities of it,” Bradshaw explained. “She literally just transformed me instantly. And ever since 2013, we worked together very closely, every single year.

“She gets me through some really tricky spots. She helps me with injuries, helps me with life problems, whatever I need. We talk and we talk for hours, and I think we are just chatting like friends do, but we get places. We work stuff out without me even knowing.

“I think that for me, opened my eyes, it’s a really interesting part of sport. It ignited a passion – that's when I decided to do my MSc and my extra bit of research on the side.”

Bradshaw has also been the target of toxic social media abuse during her career, which she claims has left her with long-term body image issues.

As a result, she has started to become outspoken about the disparity in clothing provided to male and female athletes.

This reared its head in the run-up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, when Bradshaw attended the Team GB kitting-out and was given bikini-style pants and crop tops, or a swimming-style alternative.

“It's a bikini cut costume onesie,” she said. “So the whole of my leg would be out. And I was like just red flags, anxiety of, you know, I can't go out, be on TV, be comfortable in this kind of outfit.”

Bradshaw pushed back and was given a modified all-in-one rowing kit instead.

“I think the reason why I've spoken out about it is, what if an 18-year-old kid or a 16-year-old kid went to this kitting out, wasn't comfortable and just had to suck it up,” she said.

“That's something that could really affect your performance when you're out there. Team GB and UK Sport and whoever talk about the fine margins, and athletes work on the fine margins all the time.

“And then in something so basic as a kit, to not get it right, it just seems like it doesn't add up.”

The conversation ended with a discussion on Bradshaw’s plans for the future. The pole vault star revealed she felt she had more to give and remained “open-minded” about upcoming events. It does not sound like Bradshaw will be hanging up her pole anytime soon.

This article was produced in partnership with the game changers podcast, which is supported by Sport England. You can listen to the full episode with Holly Bradshaw here.