Katie Moon, US’ premier pole vaulter, went on to win the gold at the Tokyo Olympics with a massive leap of 4.9m. While that brought her glory, a certain sense of self-doubt and crisis kicked in, making her wonder about her existence without the coveted Olympic gold. But she kept going and earned herself a World Championships gold the next year.
Katie Moon after winning the Tokyo Olympics gold.
Katie Moon, one of the US’ best pole vaulters ever, drew a lot of attention when she and Australia’s Nina Kennedy shared the gold in the women’s pole vault at the 2023 World Athletics Championships. In Mumbai for the Tata Mumbai Marathon, the athlete spoke to Times Now Sports about her and Kennedy’s decision to share the illustrious gold medal, her journey into pole vault, and crucially, mental health.
You started as a diver when you were young. How did you shift to pole vaulting?
I was a diver after I was a pole vaulter. I was a gymnast first and quite a few things I liked about gymnastics and pole vault, like the upper body strength, the adrenaline rush, and the flipping upside down. I finished gymnastics when I was eight years old and started pole vault when I was 12 years old. When I got into high school, that’s when diving came in.
Diving suited my liking for the adrenaline rush, flipping and body awareness. They all made me become a better pole vaulter. But all of those things, besides stressing my mom out, at that age, were perfect.
Your first gold at the world level was at the NACAC Championships in 2018. From then to now, how would you analyse your journey?
The 2018 season was my breakthrough. I started working with my current coach Brad Walker (2007 World Champs gold medallist) in 2017 and the first year was just about building with him after that I went to the World Indoor Champs and the World Champs in 2019. It was a testament to keep coming back, and keep showing up.
Pole vault is a technical sport and I can take time to harness and figure it out. The core of pole vault is you can keep struggling and at one point you will find consistency. My journey would be one of perseverance and continuing to show up even when it gets hard.
How did you and Nina Kennedy decide to share the gold at the World Championships last year?
At that point, we were just so tired. Pole vault can become dangerous if the athlete is tired. Both of us knew that we had given everything that we had. When the official told us that we could jump off, I had forgotten that we could share the medal but Nina hadn’t.
When she seemed hesitant to jump off, that’s when it clicked with me, that we could share and can be done with. I am extremely happy with it.
You have successfully defended your gold at the World Championships? How confident are you of defending your Olympic gold?
I am confident in my ability but pole vault is one of those events where several women are capable of winning on any given day. It instils a lot of confidence in myself but I have to work very hard to ensure that I qualify since the US trials are very tough.
Because of what I have achieved I have the confidence to go further but I cannot take that for granted and rest on my laurels. Several girls are wanting to beat me but I have done that before.
Do you think the field has become more competitive since Tokyo?
Yes and no. The depth of the sport is more than ever now. The fact that two women jumped 4.9 (Moon and Kennedy), I don’t think that’s ever happened before. The depth is getting so much better.
How has your India tour been so far? Have you got any opportunities to explore Mumbai?
Yes, we have been busy for the last few days with the marathon. But on the first day, we got to explore a bit. We went to the Gateway of India, visited Leopold Cafe, and went shopping as well. It has been a fun introduction to Mumbai and it’s a very cool city.
India is a country where athletics got its biggest boost after Neeraj Chopra won gold in Tokyo. Speaking about your event, pole vault hasn’t gained as much prominence yet. What do you think is the key to success in pole vault?
There are various things. The earlier you start the better but there are examples like Jennifer Suhr, who won the gold in the 2012 Olympics, and started after university. The mental game and the fearlessness are important. It’s a combination of strength and speed but it’s a lot more mental than people can realise.
The conversation around mental health among sportspersons is immense these days. Did you have any encounters with mental health issues that you would like to speak about?
In 2021, after winning the Olympics gold, I struggled to find the motivation and purpose as an athlete. You set yourself a target and once you have achieved that at the biggest level, you have this internal crisis of ‘What am I without this medal?’ It was a year of internal battles. There were so many days that I didn’t want to be on the track, was crying and was a little bit of a mess.
What helped was continuing to show up even when I didn’t want to. There is a time and place where you need to take a break and if the World Champs were not in Eugene, I would have. I couldn’t have forgiven myself if I didn’t turn up for a home meet.
I was grateful for making it into the team and maybe because I continued showing up, I was still fit and had a good day at the World Championships.
Katie went on to win the gold at the 2022 World Champs with a world-leading jump of 4.85m.