The pole vault final in the World Athletics Championships was a drama.
In the end, Nina Kennedy and Katie Moon chose to share the WC gold.
The expert A Lennart Julin did not like it.
– They don’t think they will win, he says on TV4.
It does not happen often in athletics that two athletes get to share the gold medal during major championships. But in the Tokyo Olympics two years ago, high jumpers Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Essa Barshim chose to skip the jump-off for 2.39 – and instead get a gold medal each.
Nice pictures
The two high jumpers were hugely applauded, and there were not many who sat unmoved when they both hugged and burst into tears in joy over the gold medals. Now it has happened again, but this time in the WC, and in the women’s pole vault final. There, Nina Kennedy, Australia, and Katie Moon, USA, fought for the gold in an absolutely thrilling final.
Kennedy and Moon both cleared 4.90, which no one else in the field did, but all broke their three attempts at 4.95. Everyone sat and waited for the jump-off, as both had identical results earlier in the competition, which meant that there and then it was not possible to appoint a winner. But then the two contestants suddenly turned towards each other, and shortly afterwards both burst into tears.
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The expert’s critique
They simply chose to share the gold medal, which means that Katie Moon won her second straight WC gold. For Nina Kennedy, it was the first WC gold of her career, and there were huge scenes of joy both among the competitors and at home on the TV sofa.
“Who’s cutting onions here?”, writes World Athletics on Twitter/X. Overall, reactions on social media were overwhelmingly positive.
But not everyone agrees. In TV4, the long-time expert sat and argued that it really shouldn’t be allowed to share the gold medals. When there is a walkover, one of the jumpers must be asked, and if he says no to jumping, the other will get the gold on the walkover.
– I usually say that the ones who want to share are the ones who don’t believe that they are the ones who will win if you fight about it, says Julin, according to Aftonbladet.
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