Pole vault world champion Nina Kennedy has Paris 2024 gold, world record in her sights
She's the new Olympic gold medallist in the high-stakes, high-drama sport of pole vault. How did Nina Kennedy get to the Paris Olympics?
Pole vault is the most bonkers of athletics disciplines. What drew you to it?[Laughs] I think all pole vaulters are a little bit… I don’t want to say tapped in the head, but we’re definitely risk-takers because it can be scary and a lot of things can go wrong. I started at the age of 12, at Little Athletics in Perth – it wasn’t long after Steve Hooker had won Olympic gold so there was a lot of hype around the sport. I’d come from a gymnastics background and I enjoyed the aerial awareness aspect of pole vault. I really liked the technical difficulty of it, too. The difficulty of pole vault is something that still appeals to me. It’s only in the past two or three years that I feel I’ve mastered it.
The women’s world record, 5.06m, has stood since 2009. That’s ripe for the taking, surely? Only four women in history have jumped 5m – it’s a very, very elite club. At the Zurich Diamond League last September I set a new PB of 4.91m, so I’m 9cm away from joining the 5m club – and 15cm from the world record. As I get older and mature as an athlete, those high bars are becoming more achievable in my mind. Do I think the world record will be broken soon? Absolutely. I’m hoping by me.
Can you explain what a “Money Pole” is? I typically take about seven poles to a competition. They’re all the same length, 4.45m, but of varying stiffness. The stiffer the pole, the higher you’re going to jump – but stiffer poles are harder to use. So you start the competition on softer poles and work your way up. In the pole vault world we call our personal-best pole our Money Pole because it’s like, “That’s the pole I’m going to make some money on…” When you’re attempting a really high bar you’ll get out your Money Pole and try to send it on that.
Talking of money, how do you make a living as an athlete? It’s a mix of funding from the Australian Institute of Sport, sponsorship from Puma, and prize money and appearance fees. I’m now a full-time athlete but until last year I had to do part-time jobs, working in a café and as a receptionist.
Can you take us through a jump? I take 16 steps in the run-up. It’s tricky – the pole is tipping me off balance, and I can’t swing my arms – but I’m aiming for a rhythmic sprint, and I hit top speed just before take-off. As soon as I plant the pole, it’s all about converting that speed from the runway into upwards momentum, using my arms and my core, and swinging my legs up so I’m upside-down, vertically. As I get the spring back from the pole, I have to twist my body around and over the bar, which is where the aerial awareness comes in.
What does it feel like when it all comes together?Oh my gosh, it’s the best feeling. It’s almost effortless. My favourite part of a jump in a big competition is when I’m falling to the mat, looking up at the bar – and seeing it hasn’t moved.
What things can go wrong? My training partner once fell down from almost 6m, missed the mat and broke both of his heels. Poles can break mid-jump. I’ve seen competitors catch their private parts on the top of the pole on the way down. Nothing bad has ever happened to me, though, touch wood; I’ve been really lucky.
You’re 167cm tall and 61kg. Is that optimal? One of the things I love about the pole vault is that there is no such thing as a perfect physique, because you can jump high in so many different ways. I’m on the small side, so I don’t have a very high grip, which is a disadvantage – but being small also means I’m light enough to really get that ping off the top of the pole, which is an advantage.
You won the world title in unusual circumstances at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last August. What happened? Out of 36 girls in the qualifying round, 12 of us went into the final – which ended up with just me and America’s Katie Moon, the Olympic champion, battling it out at really high heights. I cleared 4.90m at my final attempt, then Katie cleared 4.90m, then we both failed in three attempts at 4.95m. We were completely equal on our scorecards, which meant a sudden-death jump-off to find a winner. At that point I walked over to Katie and floated the idea of sharing the title, like the men famously did in the high jump final at the Tokyo Olympics. I instantly saw the relief on Katie’s face. So we agreed to share the world title.
You both copped some flak for it afterwards, right? Yes, but it’s super-important to understand the context... in my whole career that was the longest, hardest competition I’ve ever done. We started the final at 6.30pm and we finished at 9.45pm, by which time I’d done 15 to 20 high-intensity jumps, including two PBs.
Do you now regret sharing? No, it was the smart thing to do in those circumstances – this sport gets dangerous when you’re tired. But of course I want my own outright title. Self-belief is a huge factor; three years ago I would not have believed I was good enough to become a world champion. Now, everything is about training for Paris 2024, and I feel like I’m in my prime and this is my moment. An Olympic gold is every athlete’s dream.
Finally, how on Earth do you travel with seven poles? I get all sorts of questions when people see my 5m-long bag at the airport. They come up and ask if they’re fishing rods, or sails… you’d be surprised how many people think they fold down to go on the plane, too. No! They just go in the hold, although I always put about 10 fragile stickers on the bag.
More Coverage
