How high can Nina Kennedy go after her Monaco record?

Australian pole vaulter Nina Kennedy cleared a personal-best 4.95 metres in Monte Carlo on Saturday AEST to win the Monaco Diamond League and break the Australian and Oceania records. The performance lifted the 29-year-old to equal fifth on the all-time list and gave her the highest women’s pole vault clearance recorded in five years.

The Full Story

Kennedy arrived in Monaco seven competitions into a comeback that began after an injury-hit 2025 season. She had not contested a tournament last year after repeatedly injuring her left hamstring, but returned in March 2026 and later won her first Diamond League meet back in Rabat with a clearance of 4.80 metres.

Under the lights at Stade Louis II, Kennedy put the technical pieces together. Her 4.95-metre clearance improved the national mark of 4.91 metres she had set in Zurich in 2023 and beat American runner-up Amanda Moll by 23 centimetres. Third-placed Emily Grove finished 33 centimetres below the Australian.

The Australian then attempted the five-metre barrier but did not clear it. Rather than treating that miss as a setback, she immediately turned it into a target for the rest of the season and the approaching Glasgow Commonwealth Games, where she is the defending champion.

I genuinely believe that I can jump 5m, and I know if everything aligns I can do it.

Kennedy celebrated with fellow West Australian Kurtis Marschall, who finished third in the men’s event with 5.85 metres. Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis won that competition with a Monaco meet record of 6.07 metres.

The Main Players

Kennedy was the central figure, turning a comeback season into the strongest performance of her career. Her coach is listed by Australian Athletics as James Fitzpatrick, while Marschall added another Australian podium result in Monaco.

Amanda Moll and Emily Grove completed the women’s pole vault podium behind Kennedy. Elsewhere at the meeting, Australian Mackenzie Little placed fifth in the women’s javelin with 57.67 metres, while China’s Yan Ziyi won with 68.75 metres.

Personal best

The highest mark an athlete has achieved in competition.

Oceania Area Record

The best officially recognised performance by an athlete representing the Oceania region.

Diamond League

An international series of elite athletics meetings featuring leading track and field competitors.

Key Statistics

• 4.95m: Kennedy’s winning clearance and new personal best.
• 4cm: The improvement on her previous Australian record of 4.91m.
• 5th: Her position on the women’s all-time pole vault list.
• 23cm: Her winning margin over second-placed Amanda Moll.
• 5m: The next milestone Kennedy has publicly set herself.

What This Means

The result changes the tone of Kennedy’s comeback. A return from a long injury absence can initially be judged by consistency and simply staying healthy, but Monaco delivered something much bigger: a national record, an area record and proof that her best clearance has come after the hardest interruption of her career.

For Australian supporters, the timing is especially encouraging because the Glasgow Commonwealth Games begin in less than a fortnight, according to the reports. Kennedy enters as defending champion with a bigger personal best and a clear competitive objective rather than merely trying to regain her old level.

Her performance also provides perspective on the five-metre goal. The gap is now only five centimetres, but pole vault is not a simple progression chart; Kennedy herself described the event as highly technical and dependent on bringing every element together. Monaco showed that the target is grounded in current form, not just ambition.

What to Expect

Kennedy is set to compete at the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and has said she still has multiple competitions remaining this season. Her stated focus is now “Project 5m”, with the Monaco clearance providing the strongest evidence yet that the mark is within reach.

Marschall’s podium and Little’s javelin result also give Australian athletics several form lines to follow as the international season continues.