With a jump of 5.83 metres, City of Sheffield athlete Luke Cutts has broken the men’s national pole vault record to beat Steve Lewis’ previous record by a centimetre. Finishing second to Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie, Cutts is now ranked second in the world indoor rankings for this season.
The City of Sheffield athlete explains that, for the first time, he switched to a carbon pole for the competition in Rouen, France, having previously used fiberglass poles. A move that clearly paid off.
Preparing for the World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland, Luke is currently still getting used to the idea of being the national record holder for his event. “It’s amazing. I don’t think it’s sunk in properly yet. But I knew I had the jump in me.”
The 25 year-old says that his main aim of the indoor season is to medal in Sopot this March. For the outdoor season, Cutts says “I definitely want the Commonwealth gold.” With the way his performances are going at this early stage of the season, a gold medal is now looking increasingly likely for Cutts at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Cutts has also made lifestyle changes stating following the birth of his first child he realised “I have a responsibility now”, channeling his focus on training for the sport since then in order to be able to provide for his childen as they grow up.
Directly affected by Sheffield City Council’s decision to close Don Valley stadium, – the demolition of which began in November 2013 – Cutts states that he will now have to train indoors at the EIS in Sheffield all year round. “I don’t want to train anywhere else. I’m happy where I am and who I am coached by” states Cutts.
Evidently, the new British pole vault record holder and his coach, Trevor Fox are very pleased with how training and competing is going. Cutts will be competing at the Sainsbury’s British Athletics Indoor Championship on the 9th February in Sheffield.
