Katie Moon wins in Rabat
Common readers will know that I’m a fan of Katie Moon. She is a good pole vaulter a World and Olympic champion and a completely good one that is all the time blissful to speak. She is American however her husband is British, so she deserves no less than half marks!
She has had a great begin to 2025, She competed 4 instances indoor and recorded 4 wins. 4.80 in Manhattan, 4.82 at Millrose, 4.83 at Lievin, France and 4,80 on the US indoors. She was second in Doha with 4.63. Then in Rabat it was one other win with 4.73.
She stated of her efficiency in Rabat: “It was even higher than in Doha. We’re nonetheless coaching by way of proper now and attempting to compete. We correctly construct up fatigue, however actually it’s good and I felt higher than in Doha. I’m extra targeted and capable of do higher on the runway. In fact I might have liked to leap larger as a result of coaching goes rather well. However I had some actually good jumps at present and I’m executing higher than ever in competitors. I’ll take that as a result of it signifies that larger heights are ready. There are such a lot of variables and it takes some extra competitors rhythm to get again in to it. I’ll go residence for the subsequent few weeks due to how lengthy the season is. I need to break it up, I’ll come again for Paris and possibly London Diamond Leagues. We’re gonna area it out, strategically. However I’m excited to return residence and be with my pet and husband”. [ in that order?]
Katie has had a terrific profession. The primary championship I noticed her in was the 2018 World Indoors when she was 5th behind Sandi Morris (4.95) Anzhelika Sidirova and Aikaterina Stefanidi, the three who dominated girls’s pole-vault in that interval. She was seventh within the 2019 Worlds with medals once more going to Morris, Sidirova and Stefanidi.
The 2021 Olympics noticed a change of the world order with Katie successful Olympic gold, adopted by second within the 2022 World Indoors and first place within the World (out of doors) Championships. 2023 noticed her joint World Champion with Nina Kennedy after which within the Paris Olympics one other silver medal. She had change into the dominant feminine vaulter.
Earlier this 12 months she instructed me she was letting the longer term occur! “I’m completely going by way of this 12 months. The tentative objective is that I might like to be at a house Olympics (2028), however I simply don’t know what my physique will really feel like. Mainly, sure, I’d like to, however we’re simply going to take it 12 months by 12 months and see the way it goes. This sport is tough sufficient as it’s. When you’re not having fun with it, on the core of it, then it’s too tough to place your self by way of every little thing. And I imply, that’s actually to not sound cliché, however that’s why I began it once I was a child. I simply liked it. I believed it was probably the most enjoyable factor ever. So I might love to come back full circle and luxuriate in it on the finish of my profession.
Katie is now based mostly in Tulsa, working full-time together with her husband, Hugo. She continues to be coached by Brad Walker, however remotely. “I’ll work with Brad until I retire. So he’s nonetheless writing all my coaching plans. He’s nonetheless very a lot concerned, however you get to some extent within the pole vault the place we’re now not attempting to reinvent the wheel. I’ve just about realized the majority of what I can from him. And now I can do much more of it away from him and simply fine-tune with him”.
Count on to see her on just a few extra podiums earlier than she calls time.
