The transformation of Nina Kennedy from broken pole vaulter to Commonwealth champion was a painstaking process.

Typifying Kennedy’s competitive nature, the WA star set the bar with a height of 4.6m to snare her golden moment — 10cm higher than she needed to as all her rivals blundered in Birmingham’s windy conditions.

Her performance was all the more remarkable coming as it did after a disastrous 12th place at the Olympics last year. In Tokyo, Kennedy only cleared the same height she did at the 2014 World Junior Championships.

She endured calf, adductor and quadriceps tears in the lead-up to Tokyo, having already weathered a torn hamstring, a spinal injury as well as deep anxiety. But there was some light amid the gloom when she became the Australian women’s pole vault record-holder by jumping 4.82m at last year’s Sydney Track Classic.

And her hardship only added extra shine to Kennedy’s Commonwealth Games gold, which came after a bronze at last month’s World Athletics Championships in Oregon.

“This time last year I was at the bottom of my whole career, so to come third in the whole world and first in the Commonwealth is incredible,” the 25-year-old said.

The ease of her victory was a tribute to the village of the WA Institute of Sport staff who invested in her, from head coach and former pole vault champion Paul Burgess, to her other mentors in strength and conditioning, psychology, dietary requirements and physiotherapy.

They combined to turn Kennedy into a more professional athlete — more purposeful in her training, more trust in her strength, more diligent in her goal-setting, better understanding of performance in balance with her everyday life and more belief in her capabilities at the elite level.

WAIS physiotherapist Ben Raysmith said, relatively, Kennedy was “stronger than the front rowers in a number of the Super Rugby teams that we’ve tested”.

“She’s quite a powerful unit, a pocket rocket with the ping of a sprinter,” he said.

After claiming the gold, Kennedy tried to set a Commonwealth record of 4.76m, but the attempts were brought undone by the winds that thwarted her rivals.

“I’m feeling relieved, I really wanted that gold,” she said. “I’m so happy, the crowd was incredible and this place is really special.”

Kennedy celebrated her win on the landing mat with a clap of her hands — one completely blackened by the friction tape on her pole — a punch of her fist to the sky and a few blown kisses to her fans.

In May last year, as Kennedy rolled up her sleeve for the COVID vaccination that would allow her to head to the Olympics, she admitted she was so scared of needles that they sent her to the point of fainting.

That anecdote belies the bravery she shows daily in flinging herself to huge heights with little certainty around what may happen next.

But one thing that is for certain is that this heart-on-her-sleeve athlete will now be a Commonwealth champion for life.

“Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it,” Kennedy said after a modest celebration involving a “few drinks and pizza” with her parents Steve and Gwenda.

“I don’t think the World Champs have really sunk in yet, but this Commonwealth gold has. I’ve broken records and stood third on the podium, but I’ve never stood first, so it’s just awesome and I’m super-excited to stand on the top for once.”