Australia’s pole vault queen breaks record in crushing Monaco win
Nina Kennedy is full of “mongrel”. She’s said that, and proved it, time and again throughout her illustrious pole vault career.
In her latest competition on the road back from an injury-ravaged 2025 campaign, the world’s best pole vaulter channelled that mongrel to produce the highest jump of her life and claim victory at the Monaco Diamond League.
Nina Kennedy competing in Monaco. Getty
Kennedy cleared 4.95 metres on Saturday (AEST) to shatter her Australian record by four centimetres.
She also chalked up the highest jump in the world this year, and is now equal fifth on the all-time list.
Kennedy, the reigning Olympic gold medallist, demolished the field at the prestigious meet. She beat second place, American Amanda Moll, by 23 centimetres, and third place, the USA’s Emily Grove, by 33 centimetres.
“I know that I am in really good shape, and pole vault is so technical, and I just had to put everything all together,” Kennedy said.
“Monaco is the place to do it. I always jump well here.
“It’s a good runway, an amazing crowd, and I am just really happy with how I jumped.”
The West Australian’s 2025 campaign was derailed by injury. She didn’t compete in a single tournament last year.
She tore her left hamstring three times in six weeks.
Finally, after going under the knife, she had a clean run, having jammed four months of rehab into six weeks. She was about to fly out to Tokyo for the world athletics championships, confident she could snare a medal despite her injury-battered lead-up.
Then, in one of her final training sessions before jetting out, her hamstring pinged again.
“Sport can be brutal,” she said at the time.
Nina Kennedy’s 2025 campaign was ruined by a string of hamstring injuries. Instagram
Kennedy is now seven competitions into her comeback.
In her first Diamond League appearance of the comeback, in Rabat at the end of May, she cleared 4.80m and won the tournament.
Her jump of 4.95m on Saturday (AEST) bettered the national record of 4.91m she vaulted at a train station in Zurich in 2023.
“I genuinely believe that I can jump 5m, and I know if everything aligns I can do it,” Kennedy said after her record-breaking win in Monaco.
“I still have a lot of competitions for the rest of the season. That’s my goal.
“Project 5m is here.”
Kennedy celebrates winning Olympic gold. Getty
Speaking at the Monaco Diamond League press conference on Friday, Kennedy said the many hurdles she had faced in her career, including injuries and mental health challenges, had steeled her for the fight.
“I would say through those seven years of struggles, I just showed up,” she said.
“That taught me a lot of resilience.
“I’ve learnt that lesson, and I’m going to take that through my career, but also through my life, my friendships and beyond that.
“That’s what is so special about sport; you learn these lessons that are damn hard, and not many other things teach you that.
“I’ve had a lot of fun, always a smile on my face and I guess the belief is always there to never give up.”
