In a temperature of 39C the 30-year-old finished clear of double US indoor champion Katie Nageotte, who, in similar conditions, managed 30 vaults at her venue in Marietta, Georgia.

Canada’s Commonwealth champion Alysha Newman cleared 21 times at her venue in Bolton, Ontario.

The three pole vaulters were connected via a live video link, as were the three men who took place in the first self-styled Ultimate Garden Clash on May 3.

London 2012 champion Renaud Lavillenie, world record holder Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis and double world champion Sam Kendricks were in action then, with the first two tying with 36 clearances of 5.00m in 30 minutes, and the latter managing 26 clearances.

The first Ultimate Garden Clash attracted more than 250,000 live viewers globally, with more than one million people watching the broadcast around the world within 24 hours of it taking place.

There were viewers in 90 different countries.

"The girls will be vaulting over 4.00m," said Stefanidi before competition began.

"It was 5.00m for the men, so it is relatively higher for the women.

"The men did 98 clearances in total – I think the girls can do more."

In the end, however, the women totalled 85 vaults in the allotted time.

At the halfway point, Stefanidi led with 19 vaults, ahead of Nageotte, who had 16 clearances, and Newman, after a difficult start because of a tailwind in cold conditions, was on 12.

"I wanted to get 18 at halfway so I have an extra one for the second half now," Stefanidi said.

"It would be better if it was 10 degrees cooler."

At 31 clearances, Stefanidi’s effort wilted slightly as she knocked the bar down and then struggled to set it back up again.

"My arms were getting so tired I couldn’t put the bar up," she said as she sat hunched over a drink at the end of her effort.

Nageotte said she was satisfied with her total of 30 clearances.

"To be honest that was my goal.

"I'm in no shape or form for an endurance athlete!

"I've never before felt like I wanted to throw up during a pole vault work-out," she added.

Responding to the suggestion of retired world decathlon record holder Ashton Eaton, Stefanidi said she would be willing to go forward to a jump-off with the two winners of the men's Clash.

"But I do need to have maybe three weeks' rest first!" she said.

"The men are jumping 6.16, so they are jumping around 1.20m below their PR, while I am jumping 90cm below mine, so we would need to make some adjustments!"

She went on to praise the idea of the pole vault Clash events - originated by Lavillenie.

"It was a great idea by Renaud," she said. "It put so many different elements together - speed, technique - and endurance.

"I really think we will put it into our training schedule - although maybe not for 30 minutes!"

Earlier today World Athletics President Sebastian Coe appeared in a video clip teeing the event up.

"So it’s the second Garden Clash and my goodness Renaud, Sam and Mondo really sparked a battle royal," he said.

"This week it’s the women who have picked up the challenge, and when Katerina, who has pulled some of her friends together to help her out with this, heard that there was going to be a competition she not only said they were going to do better, she even talked about beating the total number of jumps.

"Over to you. Enjoy."

Earlier in the week Coe told insidethegames that athletics was making the best of an inherent advantage during the lockdown amid the spread of COVID-19.

"Interestingly during the pandemic, being an individual sport has allowed us to probably be more creative and to do more things than some of the team sports," he said.

"The Ultimate Garden Clash is quintessentially that.

"You are not worrying about getting 22 people off to a pitch and you are not worrying about contact sport like boxing or rugby."

In terms of the technical aspect, part of the reason for Kendricks’s lower total may have been the fact that he was taking a 14-step run-up, while Lavillenie was on nine steps and Duplantis eight.

Stefanidi had planned to use an eight-step approach, at least for the first half of the competition.

Event commentator Rob Walker revealed that the mobile phone sending the pictures from Greece was encased in ice to prevent it seizing up.

Before competition the three vaulters heard a recorded message from Sandi Morris, the world indoor champion and world outdoor silver medallist, who explained that she was unfortunately unable to take part.

“I have had a bit of a nagging knee problem in my jumping leg since the indoor season, and it’s not going away so unfortunately I am going to have to spend the next few weeks focusing on rehab," Morris said.

"But I will be watching you ladies and wish you all good luck."