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Nina Kennedy and Matt Denny will lead the charge in Australia’s medal quest as the pair eagerly await a gruelling final battle in Paris.
Since the challenges of Tokyo where she was in isolation and then missed the qualification measure for the final, Kennedy has yet to fail to deliver on the world stage.
After respecting the nature of the qualification stage, the 27-year-old was rewarded with an automatic entry into the finals as several of the discipline’s biggest names crashed out.
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Kennedy and the US’ Katie Moon, the two women who shared gold following a thriller final at the Budapest World Championships last year, will face off once again.
But this time, Kennedy isn’t feeling as charitable as she was at the World Championships.
Nina Kennedy in action during the qualification round of the women’s Paris 2024 pole vault. Michael Steele/Getty Images
Kennedy is among 11 athletes who tied for the top spot in the marathon affair final, which will see 20 pole vaulting star’s compete for one of the three medals up for grabs.
“She cleared that by a country mile in the qualifying,” Nova Peris said on Stan Sport’s Olympics Daily.
“Out of all the track and field events, this is something that you can seriously injure yourself in. It’s one of those sports that on the day you have to be mentally focused and I see that in Nina’s face.
“She shared the world championships gold last year with Katie Moon of the USA, but she’s also said if the chance is there she won’t be sharing it again.
“We saw the mishap of the Great Britain Molly Caudery, who decided to not take the prelims that seriously and declined. She was a world leader going into it and Great Britain’s hopes were absolutely shattered there.
“She talked about how ‘I could do this in training’ but it’s not training, it’s the Olympic Games.”
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Matthew Denny competes during the Men’s Discus Throw Qualification. Getty
After missing bronze in Tokyo by less than five centimetres, Denny has firmed as one of the strongest medal hopes in Paris as he looks to crack the podium.
The Australian discus champion broke the national record at the championships in April to produce a personal best throw of 69.35 metres.
With Lithuanian world record holder Mykolas Alekna advancing through to the finals with ease, the task ahead of Denny looks promising to claim the silver medal.
“It’s going to be hard for him to win gold but definitely silver and bronze are there for the taking,” Peris said.
“To even consider gold, Matt’s got to find five metres for a personal best.
“He’s come to Paris in great form. He’s ranked third in the world and on his second throw he automatically qualified.
“Fans at home in Australia are hoping he can get up there and improve on his Tokyo and World Champs results, where he finished respectively fourth in both.”
But as noted by Peris “anything can happen in the Olympic Games,” meaning the Aussie’s chances of taking home the gold are not completely out of the question.
Denny will face his medal chance at 4:45 am (AEST) on Thursday, while Kennedy looks for gold from 3 am.
