Olympic pole vault champion Nina Kennedy knows there will be nowhere to hide when her comeback effort goes up a level in Melbourne.
After claiming gold in Paris, the 28-year-old West Australian endured a torrid battle with soft-tissue injuries and underwent surgery last year.
She pushed hard to get to the world championships in September, but broke down again.
Kennedy finally returned in February after 18 months out, edging out Japan's national champion Misaki Morota at the Perth Track Classic.
The Maurie Plant Meet at Lakeside Stadium looms on Saturday, when Kennedy will be a headline act alongside fellow Olympic medallists Nicola Olyslagers and Matt Denny, as well as teen sprint sensation Gout Gout.
"(Perth) was a bronze meet and I kind of dipped my toe back in the water, but here I can't hide from anything," Kennedy said.
Kennedy said her enforced absence from the sport was "really, really hard" to deal with after the highs of Paris, but is adamant she will be stronger for the experience.
"I thought 2025 was going to be huge and I just wanted to keep that ball rolling and to jump higher and to go on and do really cool things," Kennedy said.
"But the injury definitely humbled me and it definitely brought me back to the baseline.
"We all know that those really hard experiences teach you a lot about yourself."
Kennedy is playing it safe with a modified run-up for now, but expects to be firing when she heads to Europe and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
She cleared 4.37m and 4.47m on her first attempts in Perth, though they were still well short of the 4.90m Kennedy posted in winning gold in Paris.
Nevertheless, it was a significant step forward in her comeback.
"I am jumping really high," Kennedy said.
"(In Perth) I did jump a personal best off that run-up and things are trending in the right direction."
Australia's Jessica Hull, who won 1500m silver and 3000m bronze at the world indoors in Poland last week, has caused a stir by choosing not to compete in Melbourne.
The decision was reportedly out of frustration at a perceived lack of support from Athletics Australia.
Britain's Georgia Hunter Bell, who won gold in the 1500m, will be the favourite in Melbourne and understands her rival's call.
"Jess is honestly on the road all the time (and) racing all the time," Hunter Bell said.
"She is probably one of the hardest-working people in track and field, so I think she probably wants a week off before she has to come back and do it again.
"It's quite a big ask and obviously she doubled at world champs already, so it's fair enough that she just wants a week of no racing."
