RT John – Runnerstribe.com
Eighteen months is a long time to be away from the biggest stage in your sport. For Nina Kennedy, the wait ended in the best way possible.
The Australian Olympic pole vault champion returned to the Diamond League in Rabat on Saturday night and won, clearing 4.80m at the Mohammed VI International Athletics Meet for her first return to the track since 2024. She was the only woman in the field to clear that height.
It capped off a perfect start to her year. Rabat’s win makes it three events and three wins for 2026, after previous victories at the Murray Plant meet in March and the Australian Athletics Championships in April. The distance of 4.80 meters was the best of the season.
What made the comeback notable was not just the result, but how she got there. Kennedy missed all of 2025 with soft tissue injuries and underwent surgery, and watched last year’s World Series from home instead of competing. By her own account, that time away lit a fire underneath her.
“I think the girls didn’t expect me to come out and perform the way I did, but I’ve been training hard, so I’m really happy with how I did tonight,” Kennedy said.
“Sometimes, traveling back and forth month after month can be very stressful, so it was nice to spend a year at home. But watching the World Series at home, it was very difficult, and that’s what made me very hungry.”
She also noted that returning to high-level competition means rebuilding things that most athletes take for granted. “I haven’t flown in a while, so I’ve had to learn all that and my routine at work, but I’m really happy to be back.”
Kennedy decided the match early, clearing 4.80 meters on her first attempt before walking away with victory already within reach. Thus, New Zealander Imogen Ayres obtained the best silver in her career in the Diamond League with a distance of 4.70 metres, ahead of American Katie Moon and Swiss Angelika Moser, both of whom also reached 4.70 metres.
There was a second Australian story in the field events. Eleanor Patterson took second place in the high jump with a distance of 1.94 metres, beating Ukrainian world record holder Yaroslava Mahushykh, the only woman to clear 1.97 metres, that night.
Patterson walked away with mixed emotions, partly due to the grueling travel schedule. She competed in the Xiamen Diamond League in China, flew back to Australia for two days to obtain a visa to Italy, then took a 24-hour flight to Morocco.
“I’m satisfied, but I’m not satisfied at the same time,” Patterson said. “Coming home with a second is always a privilege, and I had a lot of fun there, but I felt like I had a lot more in me. I had two really good attempts at 1.97 metres, but I keep coming back with 1.94 metres.”
She added: “I have a lot of hair in my legs.”
But for Kennedy, the night was all hers. After all that was deprived of her last year, the message to the rest of the industry was clear and unambiguous. She’s back, and she’s winning.
Sources: World Athletics, Wanda Diamond League, Australia Athletics, AAP, Inside Athletics, NewsWire.
