Nina Kennedy

DOB: 05 May 1997

Age: 24 

Coach: Paul Burgess
Event: Pole Vault
Instagram: ninakennedy_

Nina Kennedy is the Australian record holder in the pole vault, with her career-best clearance standing at 4.82m. A natural athlete and competitor, Kennedy spent her early years obliterating Little Athletics records in all events before the prodigious junior settled on the pole vault - and the records have continued to flow since.

In 2012, aged 14, Kennedy placed second in the senior Australian pole vault championships with a PB of 4.10m. She progressed in 2013, setting a best of 4.31m and placing fifth at the IAAF World Youth Championships. At the 2014 IAAF World Juniors, she vaulted a PB 4.40m, just missing a medal finishing fourth.

In February 2015 in Perth, she made a massive breakthrough in one competition. She raised her PB three times in the one competition, clearing 4.43m, then 4.50m and finally 4.59m – a world junior record. This mark also equalled the Australian junior record and qualified her for the IAAF world championships in Beijing, where unfortunately she no heighted. She suffered the same fate at the 2016 IAAF world juniors.

After a no height at the 2016 world juniors, she was back to her best clearing 4.55m to win her WA state title in March 2017 and qualified for the IAAF world championships in London. But less than two weeks before the world championships she withdrew battling a quad injury. She wrote on Instagram: "Deciding to withdraw from World Champs has broken me, I'm speechless. Onwards and upwards nevertheless. Thank you to everyone in my support team + good luck to the Aussie team."

Two years on from her brilliant 2015 season as a 17-year-old, Kennedy was better than ever in 2018. She first raised her PB to 4.60m and a week later moved to number three Australian all-time with a vault of 4.71m. At the National championships she vaulted an excellent 4.60m, as she defeated New Zealand's Olympic bronze medallist Eliza McCartney, who no heighted.

In 2018, Kennedy rose to the occasion of a home Commonwealth Games when securing bronze in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.60m, before injuries ruled her out for the majority of the 2019 season. 

In late 2020, Kennedy added 1cm to her personal best when recording a 4.72m performacne before just weeks later adding another 3cm to clear 4.75m - but no one could have predicted what would happen next. At the Sydney Track Classic in March, Kennedy would pile on 7cm to her personal best to make her way over the 4.82m bar on her first attempt - surpassing Alana Boyd's national record of 4.81m. 

Set to make her Olympic debut at 24-years-old, the future is bright for Nina Kennedy.