Olympic champion pole vaulter Nina Kennedy has made a triumphant return to the Diamond League, winning the event in Morocco with a season-best clearance of 4.80 metres. The West Australian, who had not competed in a Diamond League meet for 18 months due to leg injuries, cleared the height on her first attempt, the only woman to do so.
Successful Comeback
Kennedy's victory in Rabat marked her third meet of the year, following wins at the Maurie Plant Meet in March and the national championships last month. Despite the long layoff from the top-tier circuit, she showed no signs of rust.
"I think the girls weren't expecting me to come out and perform the way I did, but I've been training really hard, so I'm really happy with how I went tonight," Kennedy said. "Sometimes travelling back and forth month on end, it can get really tiring, so it was kind of nice to have a year at home, but watching last year's world championships at home, it was quite tough, but that made me so hungry."
She added, "I haven't flown in a while, so I had to relearn all of that and my comp routine, but I'm really glad I'm back."
Patterson Second in High Jump
In other Australian success, Victoria's Eleanor Patterson finished second in the high jump with a clearance of 1.94 metres. Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh won the event after clearing 1.97 metres.
"I'm satisfied but not satisfied at the same time," Patterson said. "Coming home with a second is always a privilege, and I had a lot of fun out there, but I felt like I had much more in me. I had a really good couple of attempts at 1.97m, but I keep coming back with 1.94m."
Patterson noted the travel challenges: "At the same time I travelled a lot last week, I flew to China where I competed in Xiamen and then flew back to Australia to pick up a visa for Italy. I stayed two days in Australia and then flew 24 hours to get here, so I have a lot of flying in my legs."
