“It’s usually a case of trying to breathe normally – not deep breaths, but just normally to kind of calm yourself, and I do say to myself ‘relax’. It’s all focusing on the things I can do well. I don’t say ‘don’t push’. I say ‘relax’. So it’s more positive reinforcement. For me it’s about relaxing and feeling tall. If I can do that, I can set the jump up well.”

DIET

“Recovery is the big thing – you need to make sure you’re eating within half an hour of a session to have your body recover adequately, and that usually involves a protein shake, particularly after gym. And obviously there’s the importance of having a good breakfast – I don’t know how people can go without. I HAVE to eat as soon as I get up.

“I usually have breakfast, go to the gym, have a protein shake after that, then maybe an apple, then lunch, then something in the afternoon. My main meal depends on what my training is for the day. If you have a hard running session in the afternoon, you’re very conscious of what you eat during the day. But you have to fuel your body.

“I’m not doing the mileage a distance runner would, so I have to be careful of not eating too many carbs – I’m not doing the two-hour runs, and it’s more anaerobic-based rather than aerobic. And being a speed and power event, the focus is on building muscle, so I’m more protein-based.

“The only supplement I take is L-Glutamine each morning for well-being, but I’m generally getting enough nutrition from my regular diet.”

WORK LIFE

“It’s great having a job to go to. It’s having that normality in my life. I don’t have a normal life, a 9-5 job, but I suppose you can say that I work full-time with my training.

“I’ll be 32 in Rio. In women’s pole vault the average age is increasing each year. So I guess I’m well in that age bracket of being at my peak then, and I feel like I do have higher heights in me. Hopefully in three years’ time I’ll be at the pinnacle.”

– Graem Sims