On August 23, 2023, the women’s pole vault final “at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 on Wednesday (23),” as World Athletics put it, came down to two women: “Kennedy, Australia’s 26-year-old world bronze medallist and Commonwealth champion. And Moon, USA’s 32-year-old Olympic and world champion.” Katie Moon was, in the AP’s words, “the Olympic champion from the United States who now gets credit for defending her world title.” Nina Kennedy was back from a fracture in her spine: “In October 2022 scans showed a Nina had a fracture in the L5 vertebra, resulting in a four-week rest before she slowly resumed training,” the Australian Olympic Committee says. “At the Budapest World Championships Nina was extraordinary.”
“The dramatic event lasted two hours and 10 minutes,” CBS News reported. “Kennedy thought she might have won the contest when she cleared 4.90 on her third and final attempt,” the AP wrote, but “Moon had to clear that height, too, or gold went exclusively to Kennedy.” “They both cleared 4.90m, equalling the world lead, on their third try,” World Athletics said. “I would definitely say that was my most clutch jump of all time,” said Moon. Then “Moon and Kennedy, an Australian, missed all three tries at 4.95 meters (16 feet, 2 3/4 inches).”
“But Moon was exhausted. So was Kennedy, whose legs were cramping,” the AP reported. Team USA explains that “The athletes would be offered the ability to compete in a jump-off to settle the final score.” “He said there was going to be a jump off and I just assumed (Kennedy) would want to so I just said, ‘Yeah,’” Moon told the AP; to Team USA she said, “I said, ‘Okay, I want to jump’.” Then, as Kennedy recounted to the AP, “I kind of looked at her and said, ‘Hey girl, you maybe want to share this?’”
“Nonetheless, shared gold medals were more than acceptable to both Moon and Kennedy,” Team USA wrote. “For the first time in the competition’s history, two athletes are sharing a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships,” CBS News reported, the two “sharing the top step of the podium for the first time in the history of the competition,” in TNT Sports’ words. “After an embrace, Kennedy broke down in tears,” World Athletics wrote; she had “added 8cm to her own Australian record.” “I knew I could get on the podium, but it was a miracle to get the gold. So, I think a miracle happened tonight,” she said.
Not everyone liked it. Moon later wrote, as TNT Sports quotes her post, “I would like to help enlighten those that are calling us ‘cowards’, ‘shameful’, ‘pathetic’ etc.” “To walk away healthy and with a gold medal, while celebrating with my friend that had just jumped as well, it was a no-brainer,” she wrote, Sports Illustrated reported, and: “Contrary to popular belief, you do not need a ‘win at all cost’ mindset to have a champion’s mentality.” A year later, at the Paris 2024 Olympics, “Australia’s Nina Kennedy was the last woman standing, adding her first Olympic gold medal to the world title she shared last year,” World Athletics reported. “Her first-time clearance at 4.90m clinched the title, ahead of USA’s defending Olympic champion Katie Moon, who took the silver on a countback.”
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- They shared a world title instead of jumping again, and people called them cowards. Team USA: “The athletes would be offered the ability to compete in a jump-off to settle the final score. Nonetheless, shared gold medals were more than acceptable to both Moon and Kennedy.” Moon’s post, as TNT Sports quotes it: “I would like to help enlighten those that are calling us ‘cowards’, ‘shameful’, ‘pathetic’ etc.” Sports Illustrated: “she responded thoughtfully to those whom she says called the two ‘cowards’ and ‘pathetic.’” 376
- Their names are Nina Kennedy and Katie Moon. World Athletics: “Kennedy, Australia’s 26-year-old world bronze medallist and Commonwealth champion. And Moon, USA’s 32-year-old Olympic and world champion.” 1
- Moon was the Olympic and world champion. World Athletics: “USA’s 32-year-old Olympic and world champion.” The Associated Press: “Moon, the Olympic champion from the United States who now gets credit for defending her world title.” 12
- And Kennedy was back from a fracture in her spine. Australian Olympic Committee: “In October 2022 scans showed a Nina had a fracture in the L5 vertebra, resulting in a four-week rest before she slowly resumed training. At the Budapest World Championships Nina was extraordinary.” 8
- In Budapest, their 2023 world final lasted over two hours. World Athletics: “at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 on Wednesday (23).” CBS News: “The dramatic event lasted two hours and 10 minutes.” 14
- On her very last try, Kennedy cleared 4.90 meters. The Associated Press: “Kennedy thought she might have won the contest when she cleared 4.90 on her third and final attempt.” World Athletics: “They both cleared 4.90m, equalling the world lead, on their third try.” 21
- To stay alive, Moon had to match it, and she did. The Associated Press: “Moon had to clear that height, too, or gold went exclusively to Kennedy.” World Athletics: “They both cleared 4.90m, equalling the world lead, on their third try.” 21
- “My most clutch jump of all time,” she said. The Associated Press: “I would definitely say that was my most clutch jump of all time,” said Moon. Team USA has the same words (“all-time”). 23
- Then neither could get over 4.95. The Associated Press: “Moon and Kennedy, an Australian, missed all three tries at 4.95 meters (16 feet, 2 3/4 inches).” 2
- By then, Moon was exhausted, and Kennedy’s legs were cramping. The Associated Press: “But Moon was exhausted. So was Kennedy, whose legs were cramping.” 2
- Still, Moon told the official she would jump again. The Associated Press: “He said there was going to be a jump off and I just assumed (Kennedy) would want to so I just said, ‘Yeah,’” Moon said. Moon, to Team USA: “I said, ‘Okay, I want to jump’.” 23
- So Kennedy asked her, “Hey girl, you maybe want to share this?” The Associated Press: “I kind of looked at her and said, ‘Hey girl, you maybe want to share this?’” Kennedy recounted. SBS Sport has “you maybe wanna share this?”; Team USA and CBS News have “maybe you want to share this.” 2534
- It became the first shared gold in World Championships history. CBS News: “For the first time in the competition’s history, two athletes are sharing a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships.” TNT Sports: “sharing the top step of the podium for the first time in the history of the competition.” 47
- Moon answered her critics, “You do not need a win at all cost mindset to have a champion’s mentality.” Moon, on X, as Sports Illustrated quotes her: “Contrary to popular belief, you do not need a ‘win at all cost’ mindset to have a champion’s mentality.” TNT Sports has the same sentence. 67
Sources
- Kennedy over, and equal to, the Moon as pair share pole vault gold in Budapest (August 23, 2023) World Athletics
- Finishing tied, Katie Moon and Nina Kennedy decide to split the pole vault gold at worlds (Eddie Pells, August 23, 2023) The Associated Press, on KSAT
- Katie Moon and Nina Kennedy Agree to Share Gold After Epic Pole Vault Duel (August 23, 2023) Team USA
- USA’s Katie Moon and Australia’s Nina Kennedy decide to share women’s pole vault gold medal CBS News
- Aussie Kennedy soars to joint world title in thrilling Pole Vault finale SBS Sport
- Katie Moon Claps Back at Critics of Decision to Share Gold Medal (August 25, 2023) Sports Illustrated
- ‘A no-brainer’ – Katie Moon defends decision to share pole vault gold amid backlash TNT Sports
- Nina’s Story (Nina Kennedy’s athlete profile) Australian Olympic Committee
- Kennedy over the moon after taking Olympic pole vault title in Paris (Paris 2024 report) World Athletics
Notes
The jump-off: no jump-off was held. Both missed their three tries at 4.95 m in the competition itself (the AP, World Athletics); an official said there would be a jump-off, and they agreed to share before it started (the AP, Team USA). The Short says exactly that.
How long: CBS News says the event “lasted two hours and 10 minutes”; Moon’s own post, as TNT Sports quotes it, speaks of “vaulting for almost 4 hours in 85 degree heat,” which counts from the warm-up. The Short says “over two hours,” true either way.
Who suggested sharing: in Kennedy’s account (the AP, SBS Sport, Team USA, CBS News) she asked, “Hey girl…”; in Moon’s account to Team USA, she first said she would jump, Kennedy said “You do?”, and then sharing came up and Kennedy asked “Are you sure, are you sure?” Both call it mutual. The Short uses Kennedy’s question and Moon’s “I want to jump” in their own words and doesn’t say who decided.
Kennedy’s words: the AP has “you maybe want to share this?”, SBS Sport “you maybe wanna share this?”, and Team USA and CBS News “maybe you want to share this.” The Short follows the AP.
The critics: unnamed people, as Moon described them in her post. The Short says “people called them cowards,” which is how Moon described the comments.
Nina Kennedy and Katie Moon are alive. Only competition results, major outlets’ reporting, their own published words and Kennedy’s publicly reported spine fracture are used. Left out: the rest of Kennedy’s Australian Olympic Committee profile beyond the October 2022 fracture, and anything about either woman’s private life.
Pictures: no free photo shows the two of them together, the moment they agreed or the medals; every picture of those moments we found is agency or federation work, so none is used, and no photo on this page shows them. Six photos by filip bossuyt show Nina Kennedy (three) and Katie Moon (three) jumping in the final itself in Budapest on August 23, 2023, but none is proven to be one of the 4.90 m or 4.95 m attempts the Short names; the “Tokyo” and “MOL” boards behind Moon are advertising. Kennedy is also at the Meeting Stanislas in Tomblaine (Nancy), France, on June 27, 2018, in four photos by alainalele1. Moon is at a Weltklasse Zurich press event on August 25, 2026, and at the Weltklasse Zurich meeting on August 26, 2026, three years after Budapest, in six photos by Quejaytee; and, as Katie Nageotte, with the flag and her gold medal after winning the 2022 world title in Eugene, Oregon, on July 17, 2022 (DSparrow14, cropped). The National Athletics Centre in Budapest is seen at sunset on January 11, 2025, not the night of the final (Balint Kovari).
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Grieg, Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46: IV. In the Hall of the Mountain King (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, public domain); Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 'From the New World': II. Largo (Musopen, public domain).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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