Women's pole vault final at the Paris Olympics: Who to watch out for

With athletes up and down the field struggling to get anywhere near the pre-tournament qualification height of 4.70m, the women's pole vault final in Paris will be contested by 20 women rather than the usual 12. With the qualification height lowered to 4.55m, only 11 women cleared that height, allowing another nine women to enter the final having cleared 4.40m, per RNZ. Let's take a look at some of the qualifiers! All results provided by Watch Athletics.

The last three years have seen the competitive field tighten up as the big names in the sport have tussled over the top spots in the competitions. As it stands, it’s hard to pick a favourite, so let’s take a look at seven of the biggest contenders for an Olympic medal.

Of course, we have to start with Katie Moon. The US vaulter is ranked World Number 1 so is an obvious one to watch and qualified with ease with the bar set at only 4.55m. The topped-ranked woman in the world has a great chance to win a gold for her country but given the difficulty the field faced with such a low bar, it could be anyone's to win.

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World Number 2 Nina Kennedy is obviously capable of some great jumps, but was limited to the qualification height in the first round of the competition, clearing the 4.55m bar with ease. Kennedy will be looking to kick on and lay down a marker early.

It will be especially great to see both Moon and Kennedy together on the big stage after the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, where Moon touchingly opted to share the world title with Kennedy rather than jump again after the Australian matched her 4.90m effort.

New Zealand’s Eliza McCartney seems to be back in form after a horror few years with an inflammatory illness – taking top place at the indoor championships in Glasgow with a 4.8m jump. Still a good 10cm shy of her personal outdoor best, but the signs are there. Like Kennedy and Moon before her, McCartney made light work of the lowered bar.

Shockingly, Caudrey failed to reach the required 4.55m height, despite having a personal best of 4.92m according to World Athletics. Her inclusion in the final was almost a forgone conclusion, but the Brit will have to wait to battle it out for Olympic gold.

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Also recording a 4.8m in Glasgow was 2023 World Championship bronze-medallist Wilma Murto, and it looks the Fin is fast carving out her place as a top name in the field. Murto was one of the 11 athletes who cleared the 4.55m bar with a performance that suggested she had plenty more to come.

Shockingly, Sandi Morris failed to clear either qualification height, missing out on the Olympic final despite being the only person in this entire field to have cracked the elusive 5.0m jump. While the 31-year-old hasn’t enjoyed those heights over the last few years, she did enjoy a win at the National Pole Vault Summit in Reno in January. 

Slovenian Tina Šutej is ranked World Number Four 4 and has enjoyed a steady run of competitions in the last couple of years, including a fourth-place finish at the 2023 World Championships. Still, the Slovenian needed some luck to advance to the final, having only cleared 4.40m in the qualification rounds.

And finally, we have Canada’s Alysha Newman. The 30-year-old is something of a superstar in the sport thanks to her social media fame, but is yet to fulfill her potential on the field – we’d love to see a great showing from her this year. Now, though, the Canadian has a chance to stamp her name into Olympic history, having comfortably made the final.

Who do you think has the best chance of taking out gold in Paris this year?

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