The Paris Olympics women’s pole vault finals have just concluded, and the world has a new winner! Sticking the pole firmly on the ground, followed by a gigantic 4.90m jump, Nina Kennedy bagged the 18th gold for Australia by a 0.05m margin. She then let out a loud scream, the sound reverberating that a new Olympic champion had risen! While it is a significant personal win for 27-year-old Kennedy, it is also something that has inked her name in Australian history.

Since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, no Australian had won a pole vault title at the Games. Moreover, speaking of women’s pole vault in particular, Kennedy is Australia’s new trailblazer. She now becomes the first woman from her nation to clinch a gold in this sport, after Tatiana Grigorieva’s silver on home soil, at the Sydney Games. Moreover, Kennedy’s victory comes over American star Katie Moon, the defending Olympic champion who had to make do with the silver spot this time.

Interestingly, Kennedy’s last pole vault gold was the one that she had shared with Moon. At the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, both of them cordially decided to hold onto the top rank, having touched the 4.90m mark. All this while they could have opted for a jump-off. But despite an equally long and nail-biting finale today, they pulled out all the stops. However, unfortunately, Katie Moon could not clear the tallest height.

Well, for Kennedy, this served as her sweet redemption after her maiden Tokyo run had come to an abrupt standstill. Sharing the same training venue as Sam Kendricks, the American pole vaulter who tested positive for COVID-19, and as a result, was asked to isolate. Thus, her momentum was broken, and she could not compete at her best. Getting eliminated at 4.55m, her dream shattered. But she knew it was temporary. She said, “I learnt that in your dark times, you do have to pull on your values. So that was a really nice lesson and my values really did shine through in those two weeks.”

Nina Kennedy’s dicey start to pole vaulting

Today, the Aussie pole vaulter recorded a season-best number, amidst the pressure of the finals. And well, she made that look flawless. But, did you know her pursuit of this sport began by accident? “I did little athletics and I loved little athletics,” Kennedy had this inclination from a young age. And it was by happenstance that it got identified and an opportunity lay right in front of her. She reminisced, that after Steve Hooker’s pole vault gold came in, “Maybe six months after that, I got sent a letter in the mail saying do you want to come try pole vault and they’d been kind of talent digging at some little athletics event and I got chosen.”

As an 11-year-old, she did a little bit of everything: sprinting, jumping, hurdling. And that collectively worked in her favor. And among 30 kids, she was one of the three who were invited to try their hands at pole vaulting. As she started competing, her skills further developed. And at the end of the day, it all worked out for her. What do you think of her Olympic achievement? Let us know below.