“I’LL be teaching pole vaulting drills from home...”

It’s a thought that conjures up budding vaulters jumping over wardrobes and getting up to mischief but this is how Holly Bradshaw will now be filling her time.

Instead of preparing for her third Olympic Games; training, competing and thinking about Tokyo holding camps, Bradshaw, like the rest of us, is confined to barracks as the coronavirus pandemic brings sport to a grinding halt.

These are troubled and worrying times but Bradshaw is trying to make the best of the situation she now finds herself in.

She has a routine; using her makeshift gym at her Loughborough home, keeping in regular contact with long-time coach Scott Simpson and getting out on her bike while husband Paul – who like her, is a member of Blackburn Harriers – pounds the streets in their one allotted outdoor exercise.

Then there is her online coaching with young vaulters from across the country.

“I’ve been posting training tips online and on social media for a while now and that is something I will continue to do now we are in this current situation,” said the 28-year-old.

“It’s something I like to do and hopefully passing on my experiences and skills will help others.”

Using the Zoom App, which allows her to connect with athletes via her laptop, Bradshaw will run a series of workshops, starting this week, and finishing with the dreaded drills.

“It’s not what is sounds like,” she said. “There will be no jumping over wardrobes or anything like that.

“It will all be about technique. I have a sawn-down pole but you can just as easily use a broom handle or a brush.

“I’ll probably be lying down to demonstrate grips so it will be nice and safe!”

Coffee and keeping in touch with the family is all important to the former Parklands High School pupil – but obviously not in that order.

“I am very much family orientated so times like this are very hard,” she added. “I try and get home at least once a month so we are now having to keep in contact via face time and things like that.”

Coffee is also key and thankfully she has a nice stock.

“Anyone who knows me will tell you I like coffee, I love coffee,” said Bradshaw whose social media posts will confirm that. “Thankfully I have my own coffee machine and I have just taken a big delivery of coffee beans so I am all good there!”

Bradshaw has had plenty of her own personal adversities to overcome in her career, years wrecked by injury, being dropped by her sponsor but she is taking this on as just another challenge – albeit a challenge that is affecting everyone.

“I’m just taking things one day at a time and that is all you can do really,” added Bradshaw. “These are scary times for all of us but we just have to try and deal with it as best we can and stay safe.”

Bradshaw’s home gym means she can train with husband Paul who is a key member of the Harriers representing the club on the track, roads or cross country on a regular basis.

“Paul is more of a runner than me so he is climbing the walls a bit,” she said. “So we are trying to get out once a day and I will either do a few sprints or get on my bike while Paul goes on his longer runs.

She added: “We have our home gym as well and we just try and make it as fun as possible. We have the med balls and I have high bar so I can work on my technique and strength.

“It’s just about trying to keep things varied.”

Bradshaw’s relationship with Simpson is also important, the coach who has been with her through mainly the highs but also the lows.

“We speak all the time, just to see how we both are but mainly to talk about training and conditioning and how to keep things ticking over,” added the British record holder.

Bradshaw,  who was sixth at the London 2012 Olympics and fifth in Rio four years later, is also keeping herself busy by doing an MSC in sports psychology.

“It’s really interesting and that is something I would like to go to when I finish my career,” she said. “Studying right now is also a good way to keep yourself busy for a few hours a day and keep your mind active.”

Bradshaw enjoyed one of her best seasons last year and was in confident mood ahead of Tokyo before the IOC made the decision to postpone it.

Now she will just have to try and take that form in to next year.

“From that side of things it is a shame because I had a really good season,” said Bradshaw who won indoor and outdoor British titles and was fourth at the World Championships in Doha.

“I’m not sure if the European Championships, due to take place in August, will go ahead. We’ll just have to wait and see.

“But I am just going to stay positive, stay ticking over and, when everything reopens and the coronavirus is under control, I’ll get back on it and be ready for 2021.”