Olympic Champion Katie Moon Once Again Beats Tokyo 2020 Rival at USATF Indoor Championship

The 2024 USATF Indoor Championship saw a repetition of the 2020 Olympics in the women’s pole vault. The final competition boiled down to the top two medal-winning athletes in Tokyo as the challenger tried to surpass her Olympic rival.

2020 women’s pole vaulting Olympic gold medalist Katie Moon rose to the top and defeated Sandie Morris once again. Katie Moon achieved a height of 4.80m to win the event, while her rival claimed the silver with a 4.75m pole vault.

Notably, the 2x World Champion had to previously forfeit the 2024 Hauts-De-France Pas-De-Calais in Liévin on 10 February. The USATF Indoor Championship winner informed her fans of the last-minute decision via an Instagram story. The Olympian noted that her Achilles showed signs of discomfort which forced her to fall back.

According to Moon, “As I was warming up my Achilles was just getting tighter and tighter… Normally when things feels a little tight they’ll just loosen up as a warm-up up and that as not the case today. And Achilles is just something you cannot mess with.” But, while Moon took two steps back, she pounced five steps forward at the USATF Indoor Championship and won the event.

The 2024 season has come with a lot of new realizations for Katie Moon. The 32-year-old is a role model to several aspiring as well as aspiring athletes. However, she wasn’t very positive about her own body and was fixated on staying lean, for which she also compromised her diet. However, enter 2024, she is taking absolute care of her body now.

USATF Indoor Championship victor turns a new leaf in 2024

Katie Moon had uploaded a post on 2 January which showcased a smiling image of herself. However, according to the caption, the USATF Indoor Championship winner would have found her healthy athletic physique in the image problematic a few months ago. 

Moon noted that she was very obsessed with a lean look. Moreover, her primary benchmark was how good she would look in a crop top. This year, however, the 32-year-old got a new perspective on things and noted, “I am so incredibly lucky to be doing what I love, at the highest level. My body moves, and rolls, and it allows me to push it to the extreme every single day.”

The USATF Indoor Championship victor further wrote, “This body has stayed healthy at the most important times of my career. And this body, on this particular day, on this particular jump won me a gold medal. Who am I to criticize it, or think less of it in any way?” 

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Due to this, she chose to forfeit the 10 February event in France before the USATF Indoor Championship and listen to her body. Moreover, she talked about this issue and even pinned it as the first image on her profile to inspire and uplift others. She said that if people see that this is the physique of the reigning Olympic and world champion, they’ll treat themselves with more kindness. With a new mindset and a new gold medal, Moon will look forward to returning to France and defending her Olympic crown.

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