Three reigning world champions will go head to head in the women's pole vault at the third leg of the Wanda Diamond League next month, with the USA's Katie Moon, Australia's Nina Kennedy and Great Britain's Molly Caudery all on the entry list for the Seashore Group Meeting in Doha on May 10th.
Moon - ranked fifth all-time with a best height of 4.95m - famously shared global gold with Commonwealth champion and Australian record holder Kennedy (4.91m) at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest after an enthralling contest failed to separate them. They were subsequently shortlisted for the 2023 International Fair Play Award as a result of their actions.
“The women’s pole vault has really progressed over the last few years and it’s exciting to be able to compete alongside such a talented group of athletes,” said 2023 Wanda Diamond League champion Moon who finished third at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow.
“I had a frustrating build-up to the World Indoors due to an Achilles injury, but I was so happy to walk away with some hardware for the US. Now I’m looking forward to building back up for the outdoors and to returning to Doha where I opened my season with a victory last year.”
Caudery, who finished fifth in Budapest, has been exceptional in 2024 and is the current world leader with a best of 4.86m. A Commonwealth Games silver medallist in Birmingham (2022), she won her first global title – and Britain’s first world indoor gold in a field event since 2012 – in Glasgow with a 4.80m clearance.
“Last year was literally a dream come true, so to kick off this Olympic year as a world indoor champion makes me so grateful and excited for what’s to come,” said the 23-year-old who has improved her lifetime best by 26cm in the past year and has her sights set on the British record (4.90m). “This will be my first time competing in Doha and I can’t wait to get my outdoor season started. I'm loving absolutely every single moment of this journey.”
Moon, Kennedy and Caudery will be joined at the Qatar Sports Club by Finland’s national record holder Wilma Murto (4.85m), world bronze medallist in Budapest and fifth in the Tokyo Olympic Games; USA’s 2016 Olympic silver medallist Sandi Morris (PB 5.00m), a three-time world silver medallist and double world indoor champion; Slovenia’s national record holder Tina Šutej (4.82m), fourth in the 2023 World Championships and fifth in the Olympics; and USA’s Bridget Williams (PB 4.83m), the 2023 Pan American Games champion.
The Wanda Diamond League is the premier one-day meeting series in athletics. It comprises 15 of the most prestigious events in global track and field. Athletes compete for points at the 14 series meetings in a bid to qualify for the two-day Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels on 13th-14th September.
