Australia’s pole vault Gold medallist Nina Kennedy opens up on alleged misconduct by former pole vault coach Alex Parnov

Paris Olympics gold medal winning star Nina Kennedy has revealed she was one of several victims of alleged misconduct from former pole vault coach Alex Parnov.

Gold medallist Australia's Nina Kennedy has revealed she was one of several victims of alleged misconduct from former pole vault coach Alex Parnov. Picture: AFP

Paris Olympic golden girl Nina Kennedy has revealed she was one of several victims of alleged misconduct from former pole vault coach Alex Parnov.

Kennedy and several former elite level pole vault athletes have broken more than a decade of silence to condemn the alleged grooming, sexual harassment, inappropriate touching, attempted kissing and predatory behaviour towards multiple young female athletes by the Russian born coach during time as Australia’s top pole vault coach in Perth.

Kennedy, who became Australia’s first women’s Olympic pole vault gold medallist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, told The Australian while her complaints eventually cost Parnov his job with the West Australian Institute of Sport in 2019, she was upset his behaviour was not exposed and punished much sooner, with a trail of destruction of complaints spanning more than 15 years.

READ THE FULL STORY BY THE AUSTRALIAN HERE

Gold medallist Australia's Nina Kennedy has revealed she was one of several victims of alleged misconduct from former pole vault coach Alex Parnov. Picture: AFP

Video in 2016 of Parnov sliding his hand down then 18-year-old Kennedy’s back and onto her bottom at an international meet was the first time the WAIS acted, warning him about his behaviour despite several earlier complaints from other athletes.

“Athletes deserve to feel safe and supported; however, I believe the organisations responsible for safeguarding us failed to protect myself and others and enabled my former coach’s harmful conduct to persist for over a decade,” Kennedy said.

“I’ve been fighting this battle behind closed doors, in my own way, while trying to reach and succeed at the pinnacle of my sport.

“This story has weighed on my shoulders for many years. It was only once my coach resigned that I felt like I could fulfil my ­potential and see what I could do in the sport; all the other individuals didn’t get that chance – which is heartbreaking.”

Russian-born pole vaulting coach Alex Parnov is the patriarch of an athletic dynasty.

Several athletes have publicly recounted his behaviour in graphic detail including attempts to kiss them on the lips without consent, body shaming, sliding his hand up their legs or booking single bed hotel rooms on trips away.

The list of victims who have come forward to The Australian is compelling: Nina Kennedy, Simone Carre, Emma Draisey, Erryn Colling (nee Boxall), Emma Philippe, Alana Quade and Kym Howe.

Howe quit the sport leading into the 2008 Beijing Olympics, despite having already qualified for the Games, due to the bullying and inappropriate touching by Parnov.

He would make her wrap her thighs in cling wrap to go running to lose weight and invite her to his room for video review sessions wearing nothing but a towel.

Long drives and trips away were always the worst.

“He would say; ‘put your feet up on the dash’. And then he would tell me how beautiful my legs are, and he would touch my legs … he would rub his hand up and down my legs. And I would have to push his hand away and just say; ‘Stop. I don’t like it when you do that’,” Howe told The Australian.

Nina Kennedy and Alex Parnov

“I would make sure I was on the opposite side of the car, because I wouldn’t want him to touch me.”

“When we rocked up in Switzerland, we just had one room booked … there was only one bed in this room, and there was a couch.

“He wanted me to sleep next to him in the bed, because there was obviously only one bed. I just refused, so I slept on the couch because I did not feel comfortable sleeping in the same bed as my coach.

“I think for me, the biggest thing is knowing that the situation has continued, and that no matter how many warnings multiple of us have put forward, it’s still continuing, and I have four young children who all love sport, and I never want them to have to go through what I went through.”

Parnov is now believed to be living in Russia. He did not respond to questions from The ­Australian.

READ THE FULL STORY BY THE AUSTRALIAN HERE

Originally published as Australia’s pole vault Gold medallist Nina Kennedy opens up on alleged misconduct by former pole vault coach Alex Parnov