Article by Glen Quartermain, courtesy of The West Australian.
West Australian pole vaulter Nina Kennedy is a big-dream conquerer.
The first Australian woman to win an Olympic gold medal in a field event touched down in Perth to a chorus of applause from friends and fans — the culmination of 15 years in a sport she is far from finished with.
“I am finally here. Something I have been telling myself all season is roll the dice, dream big,” she said.
“I dreamed as big as I can and it’s paid off. What I have also been telling myself is someone has to win the competition.
“Someone has to win and why do I have to read about someone else’s success? Why can’t it be me?”
Busselton-raised Kennedy cleared 4.90m on her first attempt in the Olympic pole vault final at Stade de France last Thursday morning, just 1cm shy of her personal best, and then looked on as her chief rival, American Katie Moon, failed to clear 4.95m.
But it didn’t really hit home for Kennedy, pictured, until the next day, when she stood on the top deck of the podium with the gold medal around her neck.
“The day after when I got to go back to the track, stand on the dais, sing the national anthem and really just get to hold the thing. It is really damn heavy and I think it sunk in then,” the 27-year-old said.
Asked what it sounded like to be the Olympic champion, Kennedy said: “It sounds awesome.
“If you’d asked me: world record or Olympic champ? Olympic champ 100 per cent. No one can ever take that away from me.”
Kennedy expects to defend her title in Los Angeles in four years, but will first try to become the fourth woman to clear 5m.
And she is not done yet for this year. She will be in Perth for just two weeks to soak up her success before heading back to Europe for three more Diamond League competitions.
“Then I am going to have a holiday,” she said.
Also arriving back in Perth on Tuesday night was fellow West Australian medal winner Charlie Senior, who secured a bronze in the featherweight division.
The 22-year-old was delighted with the bronze around his neck, but a silver boxing glove on a chain meant just as much.
It was a gift from his father Daniel three years ago when he failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
“The medal obviously is all the hard work everyone has put in to get me here as well as me,” Senior said.
“The glove is from my dad. He gave that to me after I missed out in Tokyo and I have worn this every day since.”
