Short Interviews
Max Eaves
Commonwealth Games Bronze Medalist

2010 Commonwealth Games Bronze Medalist

PB 5.64m 2016 age 28

Height 1.86cm

Weight 81kgs

Q1 Pole Vault High Point

Winning the bronze medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games New Delhi Age 22 with a new PB 5.40m followed by winning the British Indoor Champs 2011 with a new PB 5.61m.

Q2 Pole Vault Low Point

2016 jumped my lifetime best on borrowed poles in Jablonec 5.64m as my last comp of the indoors. Then the Olympic trials were early that year so first comp ended up being Cardiff on the boards indoors but a warm up meet for outdoors. I pulled my hamstring the worst I’ve ever done and as a result missed the British Champs / Olympic Trials.

Q3 Biggest Pole & Highest Grip

Spirit 5.10m 205lbs 13.7flex 4.86m grip

Usually 5.00m carbon poles 210/15lbs 12.9flex stiffest used 4.95m grip - didn’t end well

Q4 What are your 3 key factors for success in Pole Vault

1 -The ability to enjoy training, have a laugh with training partners but when it comes to your turn to jump you enter an incredibly focused state.

2 - Perseverance - injuries will happen - you can’t have the highs without the lows

3 - Strong ability to process each jump you do following feedback from coach and internal feedback - assess it all, draw a conclusion - act on it for your next jump - if it’s negative learn to throw it away and focus on positive.

Q5 Life after Pole Vault.

When did you know it was time to retire? Was it hard? What did you do after Pole Vault?

I didn’t enjoy my last year of jumping. I missed the 2016 Olympic Trials and as such took the rest of the Summer 2016 off. In hindsight I should have finished there. I didn’t enjoy my last year, jumped poor and didn’t enjoy training. My friends from school were beginning to earn good money and I felt like I was behind them.

It was easy to stop but hard at the same time. I continued building my Sports Massage client base. I did 6 months of bodybuilding training then played rugby union - managed 3 games and snapped my achilles - since then I’ve built a 24 hour gym which includes having me as your personal trainer. I’ve done boxing and jiu jitsu however my eczema didn’t respond well to jiu jitsu so felt I had to stop after 10months as it wasn’t healing. Now I just enjoy the gym to keep fit but feel ready for a new challenge.