The women set to make pole vault an unmissable event at Paris 2024

The Summer Olympics is just over a month away, and there is one event that’s already emerged as a must-watch – we’re talking about women’s pole vault.

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 heading to July, 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, but has had her preparations hampered by an Achilles injury, so the jury is out as to how close she can get to her personal best of 4.95m come July…

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World Number 2 Nina Kennedy is obviously capable of some great jumps, but the Aussie has some work to do based on a patchy run at the Doha Diamond League in May where a stumble at 4.53m set her back to second place, as reported by ABC.

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.

Great Britain's Molly Caudery also recorded a 4.8m in Glasgow, as reported by the Olympics website, and the 24-year-old seems to be heading in the right direction heading into summer thanks to a smooth year of competition.

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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.

Of course, there is still American Sandi Morris, who is 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.

And finally, we have Canada’s Alysha Newman. While we're not quite sure if Newman will make the cut after having the first part of her year plagued by an ankle injury, but the 29-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.

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

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