Two female athletes receive gold medals in world pole vaulting
The women's pole vault final on August 23 was tense, when up to six athletes surpassed the bar at 4m75 - the second highest parameter in history only after Doha 2019.
The difference came when Kennedy and Moon were the only two athletes to conquer the 4.9 meter bar, both on the third jump. At previous bar levels, Kennedy and Moon both failed to make a successful jump and were equal in all stats.
When raising the bar to 4.95 meters, Kennedy and Moon were unsuccessful all three times. They could have made one more play-off jump to decide the winner, but decided to share the gold medal. Thanks to that, Kennedy won the world gold medal for the first time, while Moon had the third biggest title, after the gold medal Eugene 2022 and Toyko 2021.
A similar moment took place in Tokyo 2021, when Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Barshim both received gold medals in the men's high jump. This is the first time that an Olympic gold medal has been awarded to two athletes in the same event, since the pentathlon (pentathlon) and decathlon (tenthathlon) event in Stockholm 1912.
After hugging her opponent, Kennedy burst into tears and proudly broke the Australian record, increasing 8 cm compared to the old milestone set by her in 2021. "I feel like the whole stadium is watching every dance step. ", Kennedy expressed. "Winning a world gold medal is a dream come true. I know I can step onto the podium, but winning a gold medal is a miracle."
Moon congratulated his colleagues and was pleased with the sharing of the title. "Before the final, I didn't think I wanted to share the gold medal, but now I'm completely satisfied. It was an intense battle," the 32-year-old athlete expressed.
Behind Kennedy and Moon are Wilma Murto of Finland and Tina Sutej of Slovenia - two athletes who both conquered the 4m8 mark on the first jump and failed in all three jumps when lifting to 4m85.
At previous far levels, Murto completed on the first jump, and Sutej failed to do it once at 4m75. Therefore, Murto received a bronze medal. The fact that two athletes won the same gold medal means that there is no silver medal in this content.
