Paris 2024: ’Did what I had to’: Nina Kennedy flies through qualifiers

Star Australian pole vaulter Nina Kennedy cruised through to the finals in Paris, while a main rival crashed out of the Olympics with a risky move that ended her campaign.

Nina Kennedy says you have to respect qualifying, she did but one of her main rivals, Great Britain’s Molly Caudery, didn’t and won’t be in the Olympic pole vault final.

In a dramatic qualifying morning where 20 vaulters went through to Wednesday night’s final because of the poor standard, Kennedy was on another planet, looking in total control with clearances of 4.40m and 4.55m.

Caudery, the world indoor champion who also came into Paris with the highest vault of the year, decided to sit out the earlier height and instead enter the competition at 4.55m.

The move backfired as she missed all three attempts and then broke down in tears when she realised a clearance at 4.40m was all that was required to get through to the final.

Kennedy was happy to take in the surroundings of Stade de France and the purple track, already labelling it her favourite stadium, and survive a bizarre qualifying.

Nina Kennedy had a strong performance in qualifiers. Picture: Getty Images

“I did what I had to do,” Kennedy said. “You know, the qualifying is always a tricky one. You want to give it the respect it deserves, and you want to jump well yet try to maintain some physical energy, emotional energy for the final.

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“So it’s a tricky one. You know, we only ever do that (qualifying) at a world championships or in the Olympics. We don’t do that in the domestic season or at a Diamond League so it’s new but I think I did that really well.

Can Nina Kennedy win gold in Paris? Picture: Getty Images

“You don’t want to open too high, and you don’t want to open early, as you want to maintain your energy. I did it at Eugene (world championships). I’ve done it in Budapest (world championships) so that’s why I did feel quite confident coming out here and knowing how to handle that.

“The build up is the hardest part. The qualifying is one of the hardest parts, you’ve got to respect the journey, you’ve got to respect the process.

“I’ve left no stone unturned, and people have fallen by the wayside. it’s all part of it.”

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Kennedy shared the gold medal with American Katie Moon at last year’s world championships but has no plans of doing the same in Paris.

Her clearance at 4.55m was big and gave her confidence that everything was on track for the final.

“It’s always good to nail a good jump and feel it, and that’s going to be the runway that the final is on,” she said. “So I was just feeling it out, feeling out my poles, and it felt really good.

“I’m really excited. I really believe in myself, I believe in my team, I’m ready to roll the dice and I’m really excited to see what happens.”

Kennedy revealed in the lead-up she would again be chasing a gold medal with a broken back like she did in Budapest with scans showing the stress fracture in her L5 and L4 had flared again.