Katie Moon of USA believes that her gesture to share pole vault gold with Australia's Nina Kennedy during last year's World Athletics Championships was born out of an innate feeling of relatedness, and it did not require a pre-existing bond.
Both Moon, a Tokyo Olympics gold winner, and Kennedy cleared 4.90m but missed all three attempts at 4.95m after a draining two-hour and 10-minute contest.
They could have gone to a jump-off but decided to share the gold in Budapest in August 2023.
"That (a prior relationship) makes it easier. If you genuinely like the person that you're competing against, it is easier to want to share with them, but it's not a requirement,바카라 Moon, who is the brand ambassador of the Tata Mumbai Marathon to be held in Mumbai on January 21, told PTI in an exclusive interview.
바카라It really just comes down to how you're feeling on the day, how they're feeling on the day, what both of your gut reactions are telling you (in terms of) what바카라s right,바카라 she said.
바카라It makes it a little bit easier to make that decision if you know them and are friends with them, but it's not a requirement,바카라 Moon added.
Moon said she sensed fatigue and the final jump mark of 4.95m given by the officials pushed them to decide on sharing the medal.
바카라When we were jumping, I honestly forgot that you could share 바카라 that was not on my radar. As we were competing and jumping more and more, I just knew how tired I was getting,바카라 she said.
바카라When it finally finished, I walked up to the official and said, 바카라okay, so what happens now?바카라 He said, 바카라you get one more attempt at 4.95m바카라. Nina walked up and said, 바카라okay, so what happens? I said, 바카라okay, we jump at 4.95m바카라," Moon recalled.
바카라She just looked a little hesitant. That's when it clicked for me, like, 'oh wait, we can share (the medal)'. I knew immediately that I wanted to do that,바카라 she said.
Moon expressed happiness that they decided to share the medal and emulate Italy바카라s Gianmarco Tamberi and Qatar's Mutaz Barshim who shared the high-jump gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
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바카라When she looked a little hesitant, I said 바카라Unless we both want to take it바카라 and she said 바카라Like share?바카라 And I was like 바카라yeah바카라,바카라 Moon said.
바카라Every time we spoke, you could see the relief on our faces and we both knew that is absolutely what we wanted to do and I'm very happy that we chose to do that,바카라 she said.
Moon also expressed happiness over her training for the Paris Olympics later this year. 바카라So far, so good. It has not been drastically different. My coach has been really good. I just do everything he tells me to do,바카라 she said.
바카라That kind of takes a lot of the decision-making out of my hands, which is very nice. This year has been more of a strength-based pre-season, so, a lot more weight-room, which as a strength-based athlete I really appreciate,바카라 she said.
Moon termed India바카라s champion javelin athlete Neeraj Chopra as a standout figure for her and also revealed her affinity with cricket.
바카라Neeraj Chopra is the main one (that) definitely comes to mind. He is amazing,바카라 she said.
바카라Cricket is not as big in the US, but my husband is a big cricket lover. He's from England. We got to go to the cricket club last night (Cricket Club of India, Brabourne Stadium) and he was looking at all the pictures on the walls, recognising some of the names from back in the day,바카라 she added.
Moon said she would watch the T20 World Cup in the US and the Caribbean if she gets an opportunity. 바카라I hope I get the chance to. I haven't been thinking about that because my whole focus right now is on the Olympics this summer for my sport,바카라 she said.
Moon underlined similarities between pole vaulting and marathon running.
바카라I've always wanted to come to India. I've never had the chance up until now. I am so fascinated and in awe of people that run marathons because I don't know that I ever could,바카라 she said.
바카라All sports have this perseverance mentality to them. In the pole vault, even though we're sprinting and stopping, we're still out there competing for several hours,바카라 she added.
