Nina Kennedy (athletics) will look to continue Australia’s dominance in women’s pole vault at the Commonwealth Games, the nation having won five out of six gold medals since the event made its debut in Kuala Lumpur in 1998. Birmingham will be the second Games for the West Australian, following her bronze (4.60m) on the Gold Coast in 2018 just days after her 21st birthday. She broke the Australian record (4.82m) in March 2021 ahead of her Olympic debut in Tokyo where she was eliminated in qualifying in slippery and wet conditions. Kennedy was born and raised in Busselton, south west of Perth, and is studying behavioural science at Notre Dame University. She started pole vaulting aged 12 and has been coached by Paul Burgess since 2019.