An epic pole vault competition

The Women’s pole vault was EPIC, and Stuart Wants us to appreciate the battle and sharing of the gold medals with Nina Kennedy and Katie Moon.

An epic pole vault competition

The women’s pole vault turned into an epic battle with, in the end, Nina Kennedy and Katie Moon unable to be separated.  When Wilma Murto and Tina Šutej bowed out on 4.80, Kennedy and Moon went head to head. Both cleared 4.85 on the first attempt and took three attempts to clear 4.90. Neither could clear 4.95. It would have been a shame for either of them to lose, so the award of joint gold medals seemed the best outcome.

Kennedy commented: “I jumped out of my skin tonight. It was super crazy. I felt like the whole stadium was watching every single jump. They were all around us tonight; it was really incredible. I cannot explain it. It was surreal. All the girls were jumping so well tonight. I think the Olympic final next year is going to be red-hot. To win a gold medal, it is just a dream come true – I knew I could get on the podium, but it was a miracle to get the gold. So I think a miracle happened tonight”.

Moon’s perspective was: “When the final started, I didn’t think sharing a gold medal would work for me, but now I am completely satisfied. What a battle it was! When it became obvious that only Nina and I were still jumping, the show had just started. I think we both motivated each other. When she had a good attempt, I also wanted to have it. It was tiring but worth the effort. What an amazing night. I hope everyone enjoyed that one. We did”.

Regular readers will know that I have a certain fascination with the women’s pole vault. And a lot of it is Katie Moon’s fault! I traveled to a lot of track meets without giving a thought to how pole vaulters got their poles from meet to meet. About seven years ago, I was traveling to the Doha Diamond League via Abu Dhabi. I met Katie Nageotte (now Mrs. Moon) in the transit lounge. On arrival, I waited anxiously for my suitcase, Katie more anxiously for her poles.  They arrived. Over the years, I have been privileged to see Katie win the 2021 Olympics and the 2022 (and 2023) World Championships, establishing herself as undoubtedly the world’s leading woman vaulter and to talk to her on a number of occasions.

Katie was fifth in the world indoors in 2018 and…