Australia’s pole vault queen Nina Kennedy: ‘I’m in full force to go to the world champs’ | Jack Snape
The Paris gold medallist opens up on her comeback from surgery, her longtime US rival, and the inner ‘mongrel’ that drives her to win
The best female pole vaulter on the planet is Australia’s only reigning Olympic athletics champion, and she will compete in Tokyo in two weeks at the world championships to defend the gold she won in 2023. But while spectators will recognise the Australian as she walks into Japan’s National Stadium, they will in truth see a different Nina Kennedy.
“I don’t have full confidence in my body,” the 28-year-old says, two weeks out from an unprecedented challenge in her esteemed career. “But that’s OK, because I have learned that there are a hundred ways to get the same outcome, and we’re just going a different route to normal.”