When an athlete goes through a spell of feeling like they’re wearing an invincibility cloak, they believe they can fly. Pole vaulter Imogen Ayris has literally been flying – relishing a superwoman sensation throughout the European indoor season, setting two new personal bests in three days in France. “I felt invincible leading into the indoor season and that really showed, jumping 4.66m and then only a few days later, 4.67m,” says the 24-year-old from her base in the United Kingdom, preparing for the world indoor championships in China this weekend. “After the 4.66m in Caen [France] I had a big reaction – like a huge emotional dump of seeing all the hard work pay off.” Ayris’s previous best was 4.60m which she set in the Olympic final in Paris last year to finish 12th in the stacked final of 18 athletes at the Stade de France. Following her 4.67m personal best in Val-de-Reuil on February 2, Ayris then raised the bar to 4.73m. She felt more than ready both physically and mentally for another breakthrough. Storming down the runway, Ayris hit exactly the right positions she wanted to in the highly technical event, but when she took off disaster struck. “I loaded the pole beautifully, felt the bend, rocked back to go upside down and then felt the pole snap,” the 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist recalls. The forces required to snap a carbon fiber pole are significant and luckily Ayris came off unscathed physically. But it’s been mentally that she’s been dealt a blow. “Having this confidence that I’ve never had before – that’s been taken from me a little. But we’re navigating through that,” she says. This month, Ayris jumped again as scheduled at the World Indoor Tour Gold Event in Madrid jumping 4.65m and having some really great attempts at 4.70m. “I feel relieved now to have gone through the grieving process of the break and I’m so proud of myself of getting straight back into it,” she says. The other complication is that Ayris now needs a new “money pole, or a 17ft2” which is the length and stiffness (flex) of the pole. In a pole vault competition, a vaulter will work through a series of poles (increasing the length and stiffness). Pole selection is critical through a competition so that the athlete uses the pole technology to advance their performance. “It’s not easy to get a specific pole made but fortunately we have one being shipped straight to China for the world indoors for me,” Ayris says. Heading into a new four-year Olympic cycle, Ayris will compete at her first world indoors selected alongside 11 other athletes, including her pole vault teammate Olivia McTaggart. Born in Auckland, Ayris moved to Europe last December, recognising she needed a “circuit breaker” post Paris. Making the Paris Olympic final and setting a personal best gave Ayris the confidence she needed to believe she belongs at the elite level. After being the last pole vaulter to be added to the Olympic Games startlist through the World Athletics ranking points system, Ayris is determined to be a competitor at major championship finals and become a regular on the Diamond League circuit. “The Olympics helped me really realise I can do this dream. I truly feel like this is where I’m supposed to be,” she says. After a month in Norway in December, Ayris moved to Loughborough (courtesy of her late father Barny’s British heritage and her British passport), where she’s now living and training with her coach, Scott Simpson. It was Ayris’ dad who encouraged her to do pole vault; he was, she says, her biggest fan. “I spent 11 years training at the same place which was a beautiful space,” she says. “But as a person I went through a lot of hard things during that time. I’m relishing this change. “Being back in the UK I feel really connected to my dad. He would be so happy that I’m over here following my dream.” Heading into an ultra-focused period in her life, Ayris wants to break her way into more consistent starts and performances at Diamond League level and to literally keep pushing the bar higher. Following world indoors, Ayris is looking forward to some time at home with her mum, Bridget, to regroup for the outdoor season for even greater heights in 2025. “I’m so grateful to be putting all my energy and life into making this dream work.”