MCSWEYN WILL RUN FINAL WITH BELIEF

Tasmanian Stewart McSweyn leads the World Athletics Championships 1500m semi-final. Picture: Getty “I’m not feeling pressure, especially compared to Tokyo, so I’m going to go into the race and believe I can do it. I think I can beat everyone on my day, so I’m going to back in that I can do it.”

It was also a successful day for compatriot Nina Kennedy.

It wasn’t that long ago Kennedy was too depressed to finish training sessions.

Her body was so riddled with injury, she couldn‘t see an end to the torment which pole vaulting was giving her.

Less than three years later,

Kennedy is a world championships bronze medallist after producing one of the great clutch performances seen in a long time in Eugene, Oregon.

The 25-year-old West Australian was almost out of the competition at her first height after missing two attempts at 4.45m, meaning she had one final attempt clearance to stay alive.

“I was so nervous. Your brain goes to every possibility – it goes to the worst-case scenario, which is no-heighting in the final, and the best-case scenario, which is clearing it,” Kennedy said.

“I just stuck to what I know and

that‘s following my cues, and I just cleared it.”

With the pressure valve released, Kennedy went about becoming the first Australian since Tatiana Grigorieva in 1999 to win a world championships medal in the pole vault.

She cleared 4.60m, 4.70m and 4.80m to put herself into the medals equation.

It was to be bronze after Kennedy missed twice at 4.85m and ran under the bar in her only attempt at 4.90m – both beyond her PB of 4.82m – to leave Americans Katie Nageotte and Sandi Morris to battle for gold.