It was the night when the new generation took center stage in the ancient city of Rome. But while Charlie Dobson came of age with a silver medal in the 400 metres, Britain’s great hope Molly Caudery was left lamenting bronze in the pole vault.
Caudery was the heavy favorite to be crowned Queen of the Continent on Monday night, which is how she has raised the bar and expectations this year. However, the 24-year-old, who admitted last week that she was still suffering from “imposter syndrome”, was not her usual self at the Stadio Olimpico.
His highest jump of 4.73m was well below his personal best of 4.86m from earlier this year. And that meant the world indoor champion could only finish third behind Switzerland’s Angelica Moser and Greece’s Aikaterini Stefanidi.
“I’m a little disappointed in myself,” Caudery admitted. ‘I would have liked a higher height. If you had told me a year ago that I would be a bronze medalist at the European Championships, I would have been over the moon. But I have new expectations for myself and I think other people have them too.
‘Once the dust settles and I have time to reflect, I will be better than I feel now. The medal will still be in my little shrine, but it may not be in the center.
Pole vault star Molly Caudery wins bronze medal at European Championships in Rome
The 24-year-old was left disappointed after being nominated for her first international outdoor title.
Caudery had started with confidence, opening with the highest bar of any athlete (4.58m), which he cleared for the first time. But the warning signs were there as he made two attempts to clear 4.68m and 4.73m, before failing with one attempt at 4.78m and two at 4.83m.
Having arrived in Rome with eight wins from 10 events this year, this result was a reality check for Caudery ahead of the top prize in Paris in two months. There, she aims to become the first British women’s Olympic champion since Tessa Sanderson in the javelin 40 years ago.
“It was a bit of a learning curve for me and that’s a good thing,” Caudery added. ‘It just goes to show that not everything goes to plan all the time.
‘It’s not really what matters this year. It’s all good preparation or Paris. There is more fire in the belly.’
Another 24-year-old who will now be excited about Paris is Dobson after his first major individual medal.
The Colchester runner has a degree in aeronautical engineering and flew one lap of the track to set a personal best of 44.38 seconds. It was not enough for him to beat the inspired Belgian Alexander Doom, who also beat his lifetime best with a time of 44.15 seconds.
But it was still a notable performance given that Dobson has primarily competed over 200 meters so far in his career.
The man who saw his potential as a 400m runner was Iwan Thomas, the former European champion, who two years ago opted for the ‘Ginger Ninja’ to beat his old British record.
Charlie Dobson bolstered his hopes of Olympic glory with a silver medal in the 400 metres.
Dobson first highlighted his one-lap potential with a personal best of 44.46 seconds last month. And by running even faster here in Rome, he has put himself in contention for medals in Paris.
“I couldn’t be happier with it,” Dobson said. ‘The 400 meters was not an event I was planning to do. I was hoping to never do the 400 because it’s a pretty difficult test!
‘But I learned it during Covid as a bit of fun and my coach and I decided to take it seriously this year. So far it is paying off.
“Everyone wants to be an Olympian at some point in their life. There’s one more hurdle to overcome, but let’s keep our fingers crossed.”
On Tuesday, Eilish McColgan will make her first return to the international arena since the European Championships two years ago, when she won silver in the 10,000 meters and bronze in the 5,000 meters.
According to her own forcefulness, the Scot has had a “really shit year.” A knee injury prevented her from running, but she also had to deal with the sudden death of her stepfather John Nuttall in November and then the passing of her grandmother Betty last month.
As inspiration during the 10,000m final, McColgan will wear a bracelet given to her by her grandmother. “It’s a little source of strength,” said the 30-year-old, who gave her teammate Megan Keith the win.