by Stuart Weir
Katie Moon, future plans
I first met Katie when we transited through Abu Dhabi (or somewhere!) en route to the Doha Diamond League. On arrival, I hoped my suitcase had made it; Katie and her poles had arrived. Then the meet sent a mini-bus too short for poles, which had to stick out the window! I have gotten to know her a bit over the years and always appreciated her willingness to talk – and explain pole vault to me. I had been privileged to be in Tokyo for that Olympic gold, Eugene for that World Championship win, and quite a few other places.
It is great to see Katie Moon in a good place, enjoying her craft and looking forward to the future because it was not always so. On paper, winning the Olympics in 2021 and the World Championships in 2022 look like a pinnacle, but there is another story: “Absolutely. It’s funny, looking back at 2022, that was by far my toughest year in every sense, and I didn’t know how I would come out on the other side of that – if I’d still be pole vaulting. But what I find is that you – towards the end of each season, I just still love the sport. When it goes well, it’s just not as much fun; it’s awful when it doesn’t go as well. That’s anything you work hard at that you want to go well. I’m so glad that I went through that. I mean, I hated it at the moment. It was awful, and I am sure it was awful for everyone around me. But that year, winning that World Championships did more for my confidence and my mental well-being than anything ever had for me in the sport. Just knowing that I could win that World Championship with the year that I had had – on a short approach, it finally instilled this confidence that I am good at this sport – which sounds ridiculous because I had won the Olympics”.
In 2024, she competed 10 times and found that the fun was back: “When you’re younger, it makes sense to just jump at any and every opportunity that presents itself, but I think at my age, 10 competitions is a good number, but really every year it just depends how I’m feeling, how I’m jumping, if I’m feeling good and confident, sometimes I want more chances to jump at something high. Sometimes, I just want to train more and favor the big ones, but I definitely like to compete a bit more rather than a little less. That is because I am very different in a competition than in training; as much as I try to replicate that feeling in the same pole, it’s not the same. I’m on much bigger poles in a competition. I’m running much faster, purely with adrenaline, meeting pressure, etc. So I like to compete my way into shape, so to say”.
Katie also had her own event in 2024, the Katie Moon Classic, which she describes as “awesome.” She adds, “I appreciated my hometown and high school for being so accommodating. Thankfully, we had really good weather, and it was just a fun, fun meet. It was nice that we had at least one girl who qualified for the Olympic Trials from there. It was just good to have a local meet that people supported.”
She is letting the future happen! “I am absolutely going through this year. The tentative goal is that I would love to be at a home Olympics (2028), but I just don’t know what my body will feel like. Basically, yes, I’d love to, but we’re just going to take it year by year and see how it goes. This sport is hard enough as it is. If you’re not enjoying it, at the core of it, then it’s too difficult to put yourself through everything. And I mean, that’s really not to sound cliché, but that’s why I started it when I was a kid. I just loved it. I thought it was the most fun thing ever. So I would love to come full circle and enjoy it at the end of my career”.
Katie is now based in Tulsa, working full-time with her husband, Hugo. She is still coached by Brad Walker, but remotely. “I will work with Brad till I retire. So he’s still writing all my training plans. He’s still very much involved, but you get to a point in the pole vault where we’re no longer trying to reinvent the wheel. I’ve pretty much learned the bulk of what I can from him. And now I can do a lot more of it away from him and just fine-tune with him”.
Reflecting on her Olympic and twice World Champion career, she said: “I have had by all accounts a dream career. I am so blessed. So many people work so hard at this sport and just don’t achieve what I have, and that’s not lost on me. I am so incredibly grateful for that. It’s cool to reflect on all the sacrifices; the time and energy spent was worth it. And this belief that I had it myself, that many other people had in me, was valid, and we did so”.
