Nina Kennedy has soared to one final glorious triumph of her glittering pole vault season, taking the Diamond League crown in Brussels to add to her Olympic gold from Paris.
While the 27-year-old West Australian was completing her all-conquering 2024 campaign, another Olympic heroine Jess Hull battled for bronze in the 1500m final on Saturday’s second day of the final in the Belgian capital.
Following Matt Denny’s discus gold and a silver for high jumper Nicola Olyslagers on Friday’s opening night, it meant four Australians finished on the podium, equalling the country’s best performance in the season-long Diamond League series.
Both Kennedy and Denny, who the vaulter cited as an inspiration, were among the 16 event winners rewarded with a $US30,000 ($A45,000) prize. Pride of place, though, had to go to Busselton’s Kennedy, who was determined to win her eighth successive competition and successfully defend her crown.
“It was probably one of the highest-pressure environments I’ve felt,” said Kennedy. “I’d got seven wins in a row, and I really felt like the girls were out for blood tonight. I could feel it.
“It’s the Diamond League final for a reason. We’ve worked our asses off to get here, so it’s the seven best girls in the world right now and they made me earn it.”
Having already won at four Diamond League meetings this year, Kennedy grabbed victory with a first-time 4.88m clearance. She also came close on her final attempt to getting over 4.95m as she sought to deliver one final, emphatic statement. The victory was already in the bag as her rivals, American Sandi Morris, Canadian Alysha Newman and Britain’s Molly Caudery couldn’t go higher than 4.80m.
“It’s weird. I’ve had the best, most consistent season of my whole life but haven’t jumped a personal best, so it’s a bit bittersweet,” Kennedy said of her failure to achieve a 2024 world-leading mark of 4.95. “Now I’m so ready to go home, I miss Australia so much.”
Olympic silver medallist Hull’s bid to take the 1500m was, predictably, scuppered by the incredible Faith Kipyegon. The 30-year-old Kenyan, who had outpaced Hull in Paris, has not lost over the distance since 2021, this time clocking three minutes 54.75 seconds, with the Aussie having to settle for third (3.56.99) behind Ethiopian world road mile champ Diribe Welteji (3:55.25).
“That caps it off perfectly,” the 27-year-old Hull said of her fantastic season in which she also broke the 2000m world record. “The best finish in a Diamond League final to cap off a year that I kept surprising myself in.”
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Georgia Griffith finished sixth in the 1500m, clocking a lifetime best 3:58.40 in her season finale.
Sydney doctor Mackenzie Little was fifth in the javelin with a 61.50m effort, behind Japanese Olympic champion Haruka Kitaguchi, who triumphed with a season’s best 66.13m effort at the last attempt.
The most dramatic win of the night may have been by Kenya’s double Olympic gold medallist Beatrice Chebet, who had no problem beating her 5000m opponents but had more trouble trying to avoid crashing into a photographer who had strayed into lane one on her penultimate lap.