Nina Kennedy is back
In the 2023 World Championships, Nina Kennedy and Katie Moon gave spectators a memorable moment when they both cleared 4.90, failed at the next height, and opted to share the gold medal. Nina had a stellar year in 2024, competing 11 times and winning 10. The 10 included the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, again with 4.90. She had established herself as the world’s leading female pole vaulter. Then it all went wrong.
An injury meant she did not compete at all in 2025. She was back in action in 2026 but the year started cautiously. She won in Rabat with 4.80, but that was her only victory. In Paris, her best vault was 4.70. The evidence was that the year out had taken its toll and that he was struggling to regain her 2023-4 form. Then came Monaco…
At the pre-event press conference, Nina was very upbeat. She reminded everyone that she had won in Monaco in 2022 and 2024 and was not about to relinquish her winning streak without a fight! She continued: “Monaco is genuinely my favorite Diamond League meeting. The stadium is beautiful, we’re right by the sea, and I swim every morning and every evening. The crowd is fantastic, and it’s simply a great place to jump. If I can put all the pieces of the puzzle together, I think 4.92m is possible tomorrow. A personal best is always the ultimate goal”.
It was not an epic competition. Amanda Moll was second with 4.72, but Nina continued. She needed two attempts to clear 4.87 but was over 4.95 with her first attempt. The day ended with three failures at 5m. Her assessment of the day was: “I know that I am in really good shape. Pole vault is so technical, so I just had to put everything together. Monaco is the place to do it, I always jump well here, it’s a good runway, an amazing crowd. I am just really happy with how I jumped. This is really my favorite meet. We were based here in Nice for a few weeks. I thought about going to Pre after Paris, but the travel was gonna be too hectic. Given that I know that Monaco is a good place to jump, I put all my eggs in this basket and am really happy that it paid off. I genuinely believe that I can jump 5m and I know if everything aligns I can do it. I still have a lot of competitions in the rest of the season. 5 meters, it’s my goal, my team’s goal. Project 5m is here”.
Speaking to me afterward, she said: “I was so close with all three attempts at 5m. I am happy that I gave it my all, kept jumping, and that my body is healthy. Hopefully 5m will come later in the season. I’m happy I am back up on top and am jumping really high bars.” She told me that being injured last year was really hard, to the point that she feared she would forget how to compete at that level.
