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Katie Moon Keeps Flying, Even When It’s Hard, by Deji Ogeyingbo
At 34, Olympic champion Katie Moon finds herself once again preparing for another trial, another team, another chance to win gold. But this time, everything feels a little different.
She still trains under the watchful eye of longtime coach Brad Walker, though now from a distance. Moon has settled into life in Tulsa, where she lives and works full-time alongside her husband, Hugo. Their life is quieter now, but the bar remains high. Walker still writes her training plans, and she executes them with the same discipline that brought her gold in Tokyo, back-to-back world titles, and a silver medal in Paris this summer.
Moon is one of the finest pole vaulters of her generation. Her Olympic title in 2021 came with a 4.90-meter vault, and she has continued to deliver ever since. She won the Diamond League Final, then claimed the 2022 world title. In 2023, she defended it with a shared gold alongside Australia’s Nina Kennedy, showing that her consistency had become a trademark.
Even in a season filled with injury and doubt, Moon doesn’t give up. After battling Achilles trouble and a grueling schedule, she still managed to take silver in Paris in 2024. “I am absolutely going through this year,” she said recently. “The tentative goal is that I would love to be at a home Olympics in 2028, but I just don’t know what my body will feel like.”
Moon’s summer competition schedule has shown her quality, even if it hasn’t made headlines the way an Olympic medal does. She opened her outdoor campaign with a 4.63m clearance in Doha in May. Then came three straight wins, all at 4.73m, in Rabat, Paris, and Chula Vista. Her best of the season came indoors, with 4.83m at meetings in both New York and Liévin.
She has stayed within herself and stayed close to the top. Most recently, she jumped 4.73m in London, good enough for second behind Olivia McTaggart, and showed that even when she’s not feeling perfect, she’s still among the best.
Moon speaks plainly about where she’s at in her career. She has done almost everything in the sport, but she still finds meaning in the day-to-day grind. Her love for pole vault started young and remains tied to a feeling more than an outcome.
“This sport is hard enough as it is,” she said. “If you’re not enjoying it, at the core of it, then it’s too difficult to put yourself through everything.”
What makes Moon’s current path interesting is not only her staying power but her decision to stay grounded. There’s no sense of drama, no declarations of farewell or legacy. She trains. She competes. She checks in with her coach. She returns home. She carries on.
With the World Championships coming up in September, Moon will line up once more at the U.S. Trials, looking to make the team and defend her title for a third time. It is worth noting she has a bye and doesn’t have to show up. There’s no guarantee her body will cooperate, and she knows that. But the possibility is still worth chasing.
Even when she wakes up feeling flat, like she did at the Paris Olympic final, she finds something to hold onto. “I woke up not feeling very well, just a headache, and I felt like my nervous system was a little flat,” she said. “But I just tried to stay focused. This is the Olympics.”
That mindset has carried her farther than most. She doesn’t need to reinvent herself or prove anything. She’s doing what she’s always done: putting in the work, showing up, and letting the future unfold, one jump at a time.
