Road to Rio: Ball is in court of GB pole vault selectors, says Luke Cutts

Barnsley pole vaulter Luke Cutts wants to prove his British record was not a one-off as he bids to meet the qualification standard for the Rio Olympics this summer.
Barnsley's Luke Cutts, competing at the Indoor British Championships at the EIS in Sheffield lasty month. Picture: Chris Etchells.Barnsley's Luke Cutts, competing at the Indoor British Championships at the EIS in Sheffield lasty month. Picture: Chris Etchells.
Barnsley's Luke Cutts, competing at the Indoor British Championships at the EIS in Sheffield lasty month. Picture: Chris Etchells.

Cutts broke Steve Lewis’s national record during the 2014 indoor season with a height of 5.83m but has yet to near that measurement again.

Despite winning the British Indoor Championships at the end of last month, the South Yorkshire athlete was overlooked for the GB squad heading to the World Indoors in Portland, Oregon next month.

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The Olympic qualification standard for the pole vault sits at a stiff 5.77m, a height Cutts has cleared twice since London 2012.

But the 28-year-old only produced a best clearance of 5.70m during the winter season and failed a solitary attempt at 5.77m at the national championships at Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport.

That left him 19th in the IAAF world rankings, topped by French Olympic gold medallist Renaud Lavillenie on 6.03m.

“I know it’s in me to jump higher, it’s just about getting the right poles,” said Cutts, who has yet to appear at a major outdoor championships in his career.

“I have jumped the Olympic qualifying height twice now.

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“I could expect another British record this year if I get the right conditions in England or wherever I compete.

“I have done the qualifying heights, it’s just down to the selectors now. The ball is in their court.

“If they select me, I’m hoping to go to Rio in top form.”

Newham and Essex Beagles athlete Lewis will provide Cutts’s main competition for a spot at Rio.

The 30-year-old came fifth in the Olympic final four years ago but failed to make it out of qualification at the 2015 World Championships in Baku.

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Fellow Essex athlete Max Eaves could also challenge for a place on the plane to Rio after clearing a personal best of 5.64m over the indoor season, while Cutts’s Barnsley clubmate Adam Hague, 19, sprung over 5.60m last year.

The rising star disappointed in fifth at the British Championships and only cleared 5.20m at the Sale Harriers’ Open Series event on Sunday.