In the form of her life, Olympic medal contender Nina Kennedy is every chance to break the Australian pole vault record for the second time in five weeks at the same place.
The 24-year-old consigned Alana Boyd's old mark of 4.80m to the history books when she cleared 4.82m at the Sydney Track Classic in mid-March.
Kennedy had known for some time it was coming.
Now she's ready to go even higher, perhaps as soon as Saturday evening at the Olympic trials at Sydney Olympic Park Athletics Centre.
Kennedy sits atop the 2021 world rankings and given her steady rate of improvement, she shapes as a legitimate medal shot in Tokyo.
"A successful Olympics campaign for me would be to jump my best and whatever that brings I'll be happy with it," said Kennedy.
"If I get a PB and I don't medal, I'm still going to be happy with that."
A clearance of 4.85m was enough to secure the gold for Greece's Katerina Stefanidi five years ago in Rio.
COVID travel restrictions mean the West Australian won't head overseas to compete before the Olympics, choosing instead to finalise her preparations in far north Queensland.
Kennedy will still keep an eye on her international rivals from afar, without stressing about it.
"I can't control what they're doing and it's just going to waste emotional energy if I worry about it," she said.
"But at the same time it's good to know where you stand.
"Knowing I'm in the top five girls and there's every chance I can medal in Tokyo, I need to be prepared for that when I get there."
Countrywoman Elizaveta Parnova is all but certain to join Kennedy in the women's pole vault in Tokyo.
