Holly Bradshaw: The athlete who will be flying the Olympic flag not just for GB, but for Chorley too.
We'll all be waiting excitedly for the Tokyo Olympics, scheduled to start this summer after being delayed by the pandemic.
And we'll be able to see Chorley's own, and the UK's number one female pole vaulter, Holly Bradshaw show,us what she can do.
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Hide AdTo mark 150 years of the Chorley Guardian, we're featuring stories about inspirational people, places that we love, and community groups.
Holly definitely deserves a place in the Chorley 150.
Holly Bradshaw, who comes from Euxton, has the chance to go for gold at the delayed games.
The athlete has said that having a year of downtime may prove beneficial to her as an athlete long term.
Indeed having struggled with injuries during the early part of her career, the former Parklands High School pupil revealed that she had already been thinking about altering her plans and prolonging her career.
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Hide AdSpeaking when the Games were initially postponed last year, Holly said: "The training I was doing before the lockdown was really good.
"I think I am not going to lose the benefits of that training and in a way this year now gives my body a bit of downtime and then I can go until 2022.
"All I know now is that 2021 is going to be a really big year for me."
And so it has proved to be.
Holly smashed the records at the British Championships in June.
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Hide AdHaving made clearances of 4.55m and 4.70m at the second time of asking, she then moved on to 4.83m to break her British outdoor record.
A subsequent clearance of 4.90m was an outright British record and obliterated her nine-year-old indoor mark of 4.87m.
Holly said at the time: “I know it will take anything between 4.80m and 4.95m to take a medal in Tokyo and I know I can be in the mix with six or seven others.
"I just need to stay healthy.”
Holly's place has now been confirmed in the Olympics team.
Chorley 150 countdown
If you'd like to nominate someone to be part of this Chorley 150 series featuring inspirational people, places that we love, or special moments in the life of the borough, then let us know.
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