This is a wonderful piece on Katie Moon, one among our favourite athletes, by Deji Ogeyingbo. Katie Moon was one among our hottest athletes of 2023 and 2024! Deji Ogeyingbo wrote articles on American athletes during the last couple of months.
Katie Moon: The Regular Hand of U.S. Pole Vaulting
Since her Olympic gold medal in Tokyo in 2020, Katie Moon has grow to be synonymous with successful when it issues most. Moon has delivered time and time once more, with a outstanding streak of main medals that features gold on the 2022 and 2023 World Championships and, lately, Silver on the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Her success is not only in regards to the headlines and the information, however her potential to carry out below stress. Moon’s consistency on the prime of her sport has earned her a fame as some of the dependable athletes in monitor and subject. After a difficult yr marked by accidents, together with a hard achilles, the 33-year-old might have simply bowed out of the Paris 2024 Olympics. Nonetheless, as an alternative, she pushed via and as soon as once more secured a podium end.
“I awoke not feeling very effectively, only a headache, and I felt like my nervous system was somewhat flat,” Moon stated after the competitors. “However I simply tried to remain targeted. That is the Olympics.”
That degree of willpower is what has outlined her profession. Regardless of struggling bodily and battling the stress of being the defending Olympic gold medalist, Moon’s potential to remain composed when it mattered most was on full show. Moon settled for silver in a contest that noticed her good buddy, Nina Kennedy, take Gold with a shocking 4.90m vault however expressed nothing however delight in her efficiency.
“As soon as I used to be right here, I used to be simply praying that my physique would maintain up as a result of I felt able to leaping excessive and doing one thing nice once more,” she stated. “And I’m simply so, so joyful that it did.”
Her strategy to this Olympics sharply contrasted with the stress she felt prior to now. After back-to-back gold medals on the World Championships in 2022 and 2023, Moon was now seen because the athlete to beat. However as an alternative of succumbing to expectations, she shifted her mindset. A season marred by harm meant many counted her out, which, in Moon’s case, might have been exactly what she wanted. Feeling like an underdog once more, she took the stress off herself, which helped her carry out on one of many sport’s largest levels.
Whereas her physique might not have been in peak situation, Moon’s psychological energy proved to be simply as vital. She knew that within the pole vault, something might occur, and in Paris, it was Kennedy’s flip to shine. However that didn’t make Moon’s silver any much less helpful. It was yet one more demonstration of her unwavering potential to rise to the event, regardless of the challenges.
“I’m so relieved and proud of the way it went,” Moon stated, reflecting on her journey. “The season was robust. I had an Achilles harm all through most of it, and I used to be simply relieved to make the group once more.”
Her continued success hasn’t been nearly her drive but in addition in regards to the relationships she’s constructed alongside the best way. The bond between Moon and Kennedy is one among mutual respect, and their shared success within the 2023 World Championships, after they determined to share the gold medal—has solely deepened their connection. In Paris, Kennedy’s gold was hard-earned, however Moon, the sportswoman, supplied reward shortly.
“Nina is such competitor,” she stated. “She confirmed up, and she or he’s just about the age I used to be once I actually figured it out, and it’s cool watching that occur in real-time for another person.”
That type of sportsmanship, mixed along with her consistency, has made Moon a determine to admire, not simply within the pole vault however in monitor and subject at giant. She’s not nearly successful; she’s about displaying up, yr after yr, regardless of the circumstances.
As Moon seems towards the longer term, competing within the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles stays tempting. However at 33, she is sensible in regards to the challenges of one other Olympic cycle. “I’ll completely undergo subsequent yr,” she stated. “However after that, we’ll simply take it yr by yr.”
Whether or not Paris was her final Olympic Video games or not, Moon’s legacy as some of the reliable athletes ever representing the U.S. is firmly established.
