Emotional as two athletes share pole vault gold medal

The 2023 World Athletics Championships just witnessed an emotional moment when two female athletes Nina Kennedy (Australia) and Katie Moon (USA) agreed to shake hands to share the pole vault gold medal.

Nina Kennedy burst into tears after winning the gold medal with her friend Katie Moon – Photo: Reuters

Katie Moon (32 years old) is the reigning world champion in the women’s pole vault . She also won the gold medal in the pole vault at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Nina Kennedy (26 years old) won the silver medal in the pole vault at the 2022 World Championships. 

On the field, the two female athletes are “rivals” competing for two different countries, but they are very close friends in real life. It couldn’t have been a better result for Katie Moon and Nina Kennedy on the morning of August 24, when they shared the pole vault gold medal at the  2023 World Athletics Championships  taking place in Budapest, Hungary.

After more than two and a half hours of women’s pole vault competition, Katie Moon and Nina Kennedy were the two leaders and both cleared the 4.9m bar. 

They then each had three failed attempts at the 4.95m bar. With all other competitors long gone, they may have to go to the deciding jump to determine a single winner.

Nina Kennedy (Australia) and Katie Moon (USA) both cleared the 4.90m mark to share the pole vault gold medal – Source: IAAF

But the two then looked at each other and decided not to continue competing, agreeing to share the gold medal. The two gave each other a warm hug and Kennedy almost burst into tears as he won his first world gold medal in his career. 

“It was a dream come true to win the gold medal,” Kennedy told reporters. “I knew I could get on the podium but to win the gold medal was amazing. So I think it was a miracle tonight.”