When Holly Bleasdale cleared 4.71m off a shortened approach at a low-key meeting last month, it hinted that there was a lot more to come from the young Blackburn pole vaulter. Tonight in Lyon, the 20-year-old lived up to that promise.

She opened with first-time clearances at 4.44m, 4.60m and a UK record of 4.72m. She improved it again with another first-time clearance of 4.80m to regain the world-leading mark. But she wasn’t done there – Bleasdale raised the bar to 4.87m and nailed it on her third vault to set her third UK record of the night.

Bleasdale then set the bar to 5.01m – a would-be world indoor record – but it was not to be. That did not dent her spirits though, as her winning 4.87m performance is a mark that ranks her at No.2 on the world indoor all-time list. It is also a world indoor under-23 best.

Only world record-holder Yelena Isinbayeva has ever gone higher indoors, while only two other athletes have ever bettered that mark outdoors. Bleasdale now ranks ahead of world champion Fabiana Murer on the world all-time list.

At the meeting in Lyon, Bleasdale led a British 1-2-3, as former UK record-holder Kate Dennison finished second with 4.34m, and Sally Peake cleared the same mark in third. Bleasdale’s training partner Andrew Sutcliffe also smashed his PB to win the men’s B string competition with 5.54m to go fifth on the UK all-time indoor list.

Tonight in Russia Isinbayeva opened her season at the Governor’s Cup in Volgograd, but her winning mark – 4.70m – was significantly lower than Bleasdale’s performance in Lyon.

Over in Germany, high jumper Robbie Grabarz also enjoyed a breakthrough to win in Wuppertal. Grabarz set a lifetime best of 2.29m two weeks ago, but that PB was short-lived. He took the lead in tonight’s competition with 2.26m, then followed it with 2.28m.

Grabarz then nailed 2.30m on his first attempt, but he failed at his first try at 2.32m as world silver medallist Aleksey Dmitrik went clear. Grabarz skipped to 2.34m and cleared it at the second time of asking, while Dmitrik failed, and the victory went to the Briton.

With his 2.34m leap, Grabarz now sits at No.3 on the UK all-time list behind Steve Smith and Dalton Grant.