TOKYO -- Whether you've got your Australian lens on or not, the sight of a shrieking Nina Kennedy cupping her hands over her mouth in sheer disbelief at having just become an Olympic champion was undoubtedly one of the more memorable images beamed into televisions from last summer's Games in Paris.
The pole vault superstar catapulted herself into Australian sporting folklore a little after 9:30 p.m. on a balmy August 8th night, her final clearance of 4.90m earning the most satisfying of gold medals for her nation and sparking wild, unforgettable celebration inside the Stade de France.
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But the year which has followed Kennedy's Olympic euphoria has been one of irritation, self-doubt, and frustrating injuries, culminating in her heartbreaking decision to withdraw from the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
After collecting an eighth consecutive pole vault crown at the Diamond League meet in Brussels last September, the West Australian began dealing with repeated strains in her left hamstring. She tore the muscle three times in the space of six weeks at the beginning of the year, leaving her with little choice but to go under the knife and have it surgically repaired.
"It was either a three-month conservative rehab, or it was a surgery rehab, also taking three months," explained Kennedy. "We went down the surgical route. They cut me open. I was on crutches for quite a few weeks."
But that initial three-month timeline quickly blew out to almost five months. No training. No practise reps. Certainly no competition. Just pure frustration for the 28-year-old, who was desperate to get back to work.
By the time her hamstring had fully healed, just six weeks remained until the championships in Japan. For Kennedy, it was a race against time to not only be ready to make her long awaited return to the sport, but to feel -- somewhat -- confident her body could hold up to the rigour of intense international competition.
"What [we did] normally takes four months," said Kennedy. "We really had to speed it up. We have been pushing my body to the absolute limits to get to the world championships. It's not like I could just rock up and see how I go. Do I have full confidence in my body as a whole? Probably not. I want to say I'm at, like, 80%, [but] 80% is good enough to make a final. And at the world champs final, anything can happen."
A week out from competition commencing in Tokyo, Kennedy was feeling as if she had won that race to be fit. Her body was feeling strong, well, as strong as can be given the extreme strain of the prior weeks, and she felt ready to defend the title she famously jointly won with American Katie Moon in Budapest two years ago.
A slice of Australian sporting history was also looming, with Kennedy looking to join Cathy Freeman, Jana Pittman, Sally Pearson, and Kelsey Lee-Barber as the nation's only multiple gold medal winners at world championship level.
Then, everything came crashing down.
During Kennedy's final training session of her abridged preparation, hours before heading home to begin packing her suitcase for Tokyo, she reported more soreness in the same leg. Another strain. Another injury. Another heartbreaking setback.
"I'm sad to say I'll be withdrawing from the world championships," she later posted to Instagram. "Even though I'm disappointed, I'm proud of myself for trying to get back and put myself in the best position to jump high at worlds. I can genuinely say I did everything I could. I gave it a red-hot crack and that in itself is a measure of success.
"Sport can be brutal, but injuries are just part of the journey, and that's okay."
Sport can be brutal. It can also be stupendous, breathtaking, and life altering in the greatest ways possible. Few have experienced the highs and lows of sport like Kennedy over the past 12 months. Instead of adding to her already glittering resume, Kennedy will be in the commentary box for Australian broadcaster Nine during the world championships.
But this latest setback won't break her. Far from it. She will rebuild, setting her sights on Los Angeles for an Olympic swansong.
"The fact that I rehabbed and [was] in full force to [compete at] the world champs is a massive win in itself," said Kennedy. "I'm embracing the discomfort, embracing the vulnerability, swinging big and giving it a crack.
"There's only a few years left in my career, so there's a part of me that only wants to rock up to a competition if I'm in the best shape I can be, and I know I can really win, but the part that my team and I are really trying to embrace is this idea that there's more to sport than just winning."