Nina Kennedy’s Commonwealth Games pole vault silver a reminder that even the greats can stumble

That’s not how this was meant to go.

When Nina Kennedy steps into an athletics arena, the expectation is gold, and she carries herself accordingly.

The definition of a smiling assassin, Kennedy’s friendly demeanour disguises a competitor’s heart that beats with propulsive force.

It launches her down the runway and, usually, to great heights.

In Glasgow, Kennedy fell short of her own lofty goals and the standards we’ve come to expect from her, but still came away with silver in the women’s pole vault final, albeit in a final that won’t go down as one of the greats.

Tailwinds at Scotstoun Stadium have been helping the sprinters, hindering the throwers, terrifying the hurdlers, and on Friday night, local time, making life difficult for the vaulters.

The crosswind kept the final from being a true jump-off between the strong field, with Kennedy clearing the bar only three times from seven attempts and 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Eliza McCartney winning on countback.

The top clearance of 4.65 metres by the gold and silver medallists was 30 centimetres lower than both of their personal bests.

Kennedy topped by 1-centimetre McCartney’s eight-year-old Oceania record of 4.94m just a couple of weeks before the Commonwealth Games began.

So, despite sporting a pretty gnarly scar from last year’s hamstring surgery, there’s no question Kennedy was fit and in form.

She carried her typical energy into the final, sitting out the early heights and waiting in the tall grass for her chance to pounce once half her competitors had already X’d out.

By the time she got out of her thick coat and stood at the top of the runway, piercing blue eyes fixed on her first attempt at 4.45m, half the eight-woman field was already gone.

She got over on her first go, but not with the sort of convincing clearance over the bar we were used to seeing.

Conserving energy? Shaking off the cold? No, as it turned out. Just a tricky competition.

New Zealander Olivia McTaggart stumbled at that hurdle three times, assuring Kennedy of a medal — and most likely silver at least after 2022 bronze medallist Imogen Ayris took three tries to clear 4.30m — but minor medals are not what Kennedy came here for.

The 29-year-old has been in Glasgow as long as any of Australia’s 255-strong team, having arrived early to carry the flag in the opening ceremony.

She has been so ever-present around the team that her success feels even more inevitable than usual, especially for folks who may have only watched her jump at Commonwealth Games, worlds and Olympics.

In those competitions, she had gone gold, gold, gold since her breakthrough win in Birmingham.

But so many things have to go right for an athlete to consistently catapult themselves 5 metres into the air with the accuracy and control required, and sometimes the pieces just don’t quite fit.

By the time she was preparing for her third attempt at 4.70m, the stare no longer looked so steely.

Having missed three of her last four jumps to that point, it didn’t feel like a foregone conclusion that she’d pull it out in the clutch yet again, and so it proved.

“Of course I’m disappointed, I wanted to win, and I didn’t,” she said, emphasising that she was “genuinely really happy” to see veteran McCartney win her first major international gold.

“I’m superhuman most of the time, but I’m also human a lot of the time, and I make mistakes, and that’s OK.

“I’m a high achiever, and I push myself to be that, but I think it’s also important to remember I’m human and I make mistakes. I didn’t want to make mistakes out there tonight, but I did, and that’s OK.”

The epitome of a big-moment performer, Kennedy has now not been able to defend her 2023 world or 2022 Commonwealth Games titles.

She missed the 2025 athletics world championships because of her torn hamstring and missed the mark in Glasgow, but results aren’t all that matter for a woman who has ticked off every career goal at this point.

She said before the opening ceremony that she would probably forget to soak in the moment as the team’s flag-bearer, but after a long campaign and a surprisingly short time on centre stage, it seems she has figured it out.

“Sometimes sport is more than just the medals, it’s about the memories made and the connections and the officials and the volunteers,” she said.

“The crowd out there was so awesome. Everyone was just so happy to be here. I’m walking away with a lot of memories.

“I’m happy. Like, I’m sad, but I’m happy.”