| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Born | 26 April 2003 |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | Pole vault |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best | Pole vault: 4.35m (2024) |
Sophie Ashurst (born 26 April 2003) is a British pole vaulter. [1]
From Sale, Greater Manchester, she is the daughter of pole vaulter Andy Ashurst. [2] [3] She first tried the pole vault with her father when she was eight years-old. She played numerous sports before focusing on athletics by the age of 16 years-old. She won the English schools senior girls pole vault title in July 2021 with a championship record clearance of 4.21m. [4] [5] [6] She later attended Loughborough University where she began to be coached by Kate Rooney. [7]
She won the national under-20 pole vault title in 2021 with a 4.10m clearance and set a new English Schools Championship best performance of 4.21m. She placed fifth at the 2021 European Athletics U20 Championships and sixth in the senior 2021 British Athletics Championships. [6] She was troubled by a hip flexor injury in 2022 but later in the summer also finished sixth in the pole vault at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia with a clearance of 4.10 metres, and was given the honour of captaining the British squad at the championships. [8] [9] [10]
She was runner-up at the 2024 British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) indoor championships in Sheffield in February 2024. [11] She cleared 4.21 metres to place third at the 2024 British Athletics Championships. [12] [13] That year, she set a new personal best with a clearance of 4.35 metres whilst competing in France. [14]
In November 2024, she was named by British Athletics on the Olympic Futures Programme for 2025. [15] She was runner-up at the 2025 British Indoor Athletics Championships, in Birmingham, on 22 February 2025, to Nemiah Munir. [16] She was runner-up to Munir again at the BUCS outdoor championships in May 2025. [17]