Nina Kennedy (athletics) continued Australia’s dominance in women’s pole vault at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, winning the nation’s sixth gold medal in the seven editions of the event since its debut in Kuala Lumpur in 1998. It was the second medal for the West Australian following her bronze on the Gold Coast in 2018 just days after her 21st birthday and a precursor to even greater glory. At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Kennedy cleared 4.90m at the first attempt to win Australia’s first Olympic gold in a women’s field event, standing alone at the top of the podium after deciding to share the gold at the world championships the previous year.

It also followed the heartbreak of her Olympic debut in Tokyo three years earlier where she was eliminated in qualifying in slippery and wet conditions after her preparation was interrupted by testing positive for COVID and being forced to leave the Olympic Village and isolating at a hotel.

Kennedy was born and raised in Busselton, southwest of Perth, and started in pole vault at Little Athletics aged 12 after being inspired by Steve Hooker’s gold at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. She is studying behavioural science at Notre Dame University.