World indoor pole vault champion Molly Caudery has undergone emergency spinal surgery, bringing an abrupt end to her season.
The British record holder needed a microdisectomy, an operation to remove part of a spinal disc, after a “flare-up” of pain in her back last week, she wrote on social media.
It means the 26-year-old’s season has been cut short in heartbreaking circumstances, with a home Commonwealth Games and home European Championships - in Glasgow and Birmingham respectively - among her major targets for 2026. She had also intended to break her own British record of 4.92m this season.
She wrote on Instagram: “Emergency spinal surgery (microdisectomy) wasn’t on my 2026 bingo card… And just like that, my season is over.
“Absolutely heartbroken to even be writing this, missing out on yet another year of major champs and home games.
“For context I had a back flare up last week that got worse quickly and immediate surgical intervention was needed to prevent any further damage. The surgery was a success and my road to recovery starts today!”
Caudery has endured a torrid run of luck at major championships in recent years. She was the reigning world indoor champion and heavy favourite going into the Paris Olympics in 2024, but failed to clear the bar at her opening height and missed out on the final.
The world championships in Tokyo the following year was supposed to be her redemption story, but she suffered a freak injury in the warm-up before competing, sustaining bone bruising and rupturing ligaments, including her anterior talo-fibular ligament (ATFL). She had to be taken off the track in a wheelchair and although the injury did not require surgery, she was told her ankle would be unstable for the rest of her life.
Her return to competition at the start of this season was further hampered by a mental block caused by her injuries, but she returned in dominant fashion at the world indoor championships in Torun, Poland earlier this year, reclaiming her crown from 2024.
The former Commonwealth and European medallist also won the Diamond League meeting in Rome just last week with a season’s best height of 4.80m.
The surgery means yet another setback in her journey back to the top of the sport.
She added: “Really thought 2026 was going to be my year after heartbreak in Paris and Tokyo and everything in between but just wanted to add another chapter in the autobiography before the comeback.”
She told The Independent in March: “You have to kind of give yourself that time to, it sounds silly, but grieve that moment. I've experienced it twice in two years now, with Paris and then Tokyo.
“I was determined not to let it kind of, get me down or change anything in my life. I was just wandering around Tokyo on my crutches. Not that there's loads of positives, but taking the positives where you can.
“This year, because I've missed most of the indoor season, because of my injury, I've just been sat at home watching everyone compete. And it's like, it's just building this fire in me. Of course, I just want to go there and do my best. But there's definitely a fire simmering.”
