Katie Moon wins third straight world pole vault championship

Katie Moon, a former Dayton Flyers athlete who finished her career at Ashland University, won her third straight pole vault world title on Wednesday.

Moon won the gold medal with a vault of 4.90 meters at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan.

Sandi Morris, of the United States, finished second (4.85). Tina Sutez, of Slovenia, finished third (4.80). She won the gold in 2021 in Eugene, Ore., with a height of 4.85.

Moon (née Nageotte) became the first woman to win the pole vault crown at three straight world championship events. She won in the same stadium where she won the Olympic gold medal in 2021.

Moon tied for the gold in 2023 in Budapest, clearing 4.90 meters.

“They’re all special, but I think the older you get, it gets harder,” Moon told reporters. “So to be able to come in here and not just win but to jump a (4.90), I don’t know how many years of that I’ve got in me.”

As a freshman at the University of Dayton in 2010, Moon finished 17th in the pole vault (12-9½) at the NCAA championships. As a sophomore in 2011, Nageotte finished second in the A-10 indoor championships and fourth in the outdoor meet. After transferring to Ashland, she won two NCAA Division II titles.