18th March 2015

Hague Jumping For Joy

18 March 2015

Adam Hague (coach: Trevor Fox) is not your ordinary 17 year-old college student. The Rotherham-born athlete is the current world indoor youth record holder in the pole vault, and has high hopes to continue his encouraging rise in the event over the next few years.

Hague jumped 5.55m in Vienna last month which the Barnsley College student admits was quite a surprise to him. However, he went into the year confident after a successful 2014 which saw him reach the IAAF World Junior Championships final in Eugene.

“I never expected it (to jump 5.55m) – I was looking more around 5.40-5.45m as a marker to go into the outdoor season. To be jumping so high already is very good,” said Hague.

“2014 was such a good season for me and it gave me a lot of confidence, and my aim was always to continue that form into the indoors, and I think I have done that.”

An eighth place finish in America last summer symbolised a coming-of-age for Hague and he built on that heading into the winter training. A second place finish at the Sainsbury’s Indoor British Championships followed last month and he was delighted to perform so well in front of the home crowd.  

“It was good to compete in front of a home crowd. We had a lot of support from our local area which always gives us an advantage in these types of competitions. You always get extra energy from the big crowds. I love pressure – it makes me perform in a better way.”

He competed in Sheffield alongside his experienced training partner Luke Cutts, the Commonwealth silver medallist from Glasgow 2014 and believes training with the British record-holder is teaching him new things all the time.

“He is always helping me in training and gives me advice on my technique which is useful going into competitions. It is things like suggesting which poles to use at different heights – I’ve been using bigger poles which have helped me to jump bigger heights so far this year.”

The Trevor Fox coached-athlete explains how he enjoys the atmosphere within his training group and his passion for the sport.

“I just enjoy training in general; I obviously love what I do. Training is always good fun, especially when Luke (Cutts) is there. I enjoy it all – I like mixing up my training sessions.”

Hague is a prestigious talent and has now turned his focus to the challenges ahead including the European Junior Championships to be held in Eskilstuna, Sweden.

“The European Juniors are the main aim. I want to reach the final first and then do well once I get there, that’s the main goal”, said Hague who is supported by the British Athletics Futures programme which provides support to athletes and their coaches

“I just take one season at a time and aim for the major championships in that year. I know I can get to the European Juniors this year. I can think about the Olympics in the long term but the juniors are my focus now.”

Firstly though, Hague’s attention will immediately turn towards a trip to America where he will vault alongside Cutts at the Texas Relays. He has high hopes of building upon his strong indoor form in an outdoor environment, particularly later in the season.

“I’m looking forward to competing at the Texas relays with Luke. It’s quite a big outdoor American championship so it’ll be good to get all the experience of that competition and bring it back over here to build on for the summer.

“I want to maintain the heights I have been jumping and hopefully I’ll jump a PB, but if I don’t, it will still have been a good year. Hopefully over the next few years, I’ll be jumping around 5.70m – 5.80m, which would be a really good marker in the world rankings to get.”