When Jax Thoirs picked up a pole vault and, once again, catapulted himself over a 15-foot high bar, it was, he admits, like he’d never been away.
Despite an almost five year sabbatical from athletics, Thoirs discovered, much to his surprise, that he still had what it takes to be a top-class pole vaulter.
It was a comeback that he, for quite some time, didn’t envisaged himself making.
The first chapter of Thoirs’ career was a successful one. Scottish titles and records, Commonwealth Games representation, an NCAA title and GB selection amounted to, by anyone’s standards, a stellar collection of achievements.
But a blood clot in Thoirs’ arm forced him to withdraw from the Scotland team for the 2018 Commonwealth Games and with the Covid pandemic coming soon after, the Glaswegian’s career stalled. The logical next step was to call time on his career, which Thoirs duly did. And rather than miss his track and field life, he felt immediately like a weight had been removed from his shoulders.
“I fought my way back after my blood clot and got myself back into a position where I felt like I could jump high again. But then Covid hit,” he recalls.
“For me, a big motivating factor in training is having people around and I like an atmosphere when I'm competing and there was none of that.
“And I'd been putting a lot of pressure on myself for years and I lost the enjoyment for the sport so it felt like a natural time to give up.
“I was really happy when I gave up - it felt like a weight off my shoulders and I enjoyed having a life away from sport. There was periods within that five years where I wouldn't exercise for a whole year at a time but I was happy with that because I needed a mental break to forget about the sport and get over some of the disappointments I’d had.”
However, watching the Paris Olympics in 2024 sparked something within Thoirs. And, seemingly from nowhere, he once again picked-up a pole vault pole.
“At the Paris Olympics, pole vault was one of the best events with Mondo Duplantis breaking the world record, so I got interested again.
“Shortly after that, I started coaching and I really enjoyed it it made me remember that I loved the sport. So I decided to give pole vault a shot again.
“Coming back, the technical part of it was the easiest for me. What was harder was getting back into shape and getting my speed back up to where it needed to be. And it was pretty good right from the start.”
Almost immediately, a seed was planted within Thoirs that maybe, just maybe, he could attempt to qualify for Team Scotland for Glasgow 2026. What began as a pipe dream quickly became reality, with Thoirs almost immediately securing the qualification standard for the Commonwealth Games before duly being included in Scotland’s 39-strong squad for Glasgow 2026.
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Now 33-years-old, Thoirs heads into his second Commonwealth Games - he finished fourth at Glasgow 2014 - with aspirations far greater than merely picking up another tracksuit.
He wants to attend to the unfinished business that is winning a Commonwealth Games medal and while, as recently as a year ago, such a target would have been viewed as wildly optimistic, it’s now seen, by Thoirs himself as well as most observers, as an entirely realistic prospect.
“At the Commonwealth Games, Kurtis Marshall (Australia’s defending champion) will be there and he's pretty the third best guy in the world so, being realistic, winning in Glasgow is going to be very difficult,” says Thoirs.
“But 5m 50cm usually wins a medal at the Commonwealth Games, so if I jumped a PB on the day, that would definitely put me into medal contention.”
The support for Thoirs at Scotstoun Stadium will be vociferous. Several of the children he coaches have secured themselves tickets for the pole vault and they will be cheering-on their mentor enthusiastically. And while Thoirs admits he is undecided as to whether or not this will be his last competitive appearance ever or not, he’s pleased to be able to use his Commonwealth Games appearance as inspiration for his young charges.
“The kids are excited, and a couple of them have got tickets for the pole vault,” he says.
“I didn't know how interested they'd be in how I was doing but they've been following along.
“I think it's motivating for them to see someone close to them doing good things and making championships, and I’d like to think that helps them believe in themselves as well.
“I'm someone who doesn't make black or white plans so who knows what will happen after Glasgow. If I jump a personal best, then it might be worth keeping on going but there's also a good chance that even if it does go well, this will be it for me.”
