World Athletics Championships: ‘A no-brainer’ – Katie Moon defends decision to share pole vault gold amid backlash

Moon – the defending world champion – and Kennedy both failed to clear 4.95m three times before deciding against a jump-off and sharing the top step of the podium for the first time in the history of the competition.

After receiving a backlash, Moon took to social media to respond to her critics, saying it would have been “dangerous” to continue.

“To say that I’ve seen mixed reviews about our decision to share the win would be an understatement,” Moon wrote.

“While part of me doesn’t want to entertain the negative comments, I would like to help enlighten those that are calling us “cowards”, “shameful”, “pathetic” etc.

“I know you can’t make everyone happy in this world, but in an effort to help people understand the sport that I love so much, I would like to explain my mentality in that moment.

“The pole vault is not an endurance event. We have a short window of jumps. Once the fatigue sets in, it not only becomes more difficult, but dangerous. The sport has seen everything from athletes just landing funny with minor tweaks, to horrific accidents.

“We had jumped an entire competition, vaulting for almost 4 hours in 85 degree heat. The competition ended, and we were exhausted. A World Championship is incredibly emotionally draining-even more so than a regular competition.

“My step (the point where I jump off the ground into the takeoff) to vault safely has to be in almost the exact same spot every time, give or take a few inches. My last few jumps, that takeoff step was moving further and further out, giving us real data showing my fatigue even with adrenaline.

“To walk away healthy and with a gold medal, while celebrating with my friend that had jumped just as well, was a no-brainer.”

Moon and Kennedy were the only competitors to clear 4.85m, setting them up for a gold medal showdown. Both failed with their first two attempts at 4.90m before scraping over with their third and final efforts.

Neither was able to win the gold outright at 4.95m and they agreed to share top honours rather than continue. It was reminiscent to the decision made by high jumpers Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Essa Barshim to share Olympic gold in Tokyo two years ago.

Moon admitted she understood some of the negativity but that she would “never regret” what happened.

“We decided that in this particular moment, sharing glory was just as good as earning it outright,” she added. “I understand that people want to see a clear winner. It is the exciting part of sport.

“But in this instance, it was without a doubt the right decision, and one that I will never regret. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need a “win at all cost” mindset to have a champion’s mentality.”

Stream the World Athletics Championships live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com.