"Major indictment of those in charge of track & field": Michael Johnson on Olympic pole vault champion Katie Moon called 'amateur'

Olympic legend Michael Johnson recently reacted to pole vaulter Katie Moon being called an “amateur” for her statement against a sports committee. Johnson described it as a major “indictment” for athletes who are pursuing to increase the awareness and popularity of the sport.

Recently, 2020 Olympics gold medalist Katie Moon expressed her disappointment over the Great Cleveland Sports Commission not nominating her in its Athlete of the Year award category.

The commission announced Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett as the winner. As soon as Katie Moon shared her agitation on X (formerly known as Twitter), fans called her an "amateur." They believed that Olympic athletes were amateurs.

"I always thought the Olympics featured exclusively amateur athletes? Or is that just what they say so they don’t have to pay y’all?" a user wrote.

Another commented:

"Myles won Professional Athlete of the Year. So you as an amateur should be eligible for a different award."

Reacting to the comments, Michael Johnson shared Moon's statement on his X handle and wrote:

"The number of people in the replies who think a track & field Olympic and World Champion is an amateur athlete is a major indictment of those in charge of the sport."

In her tweet, Moon wrote that she had nothing against Myles Garrett but wanted more recognition for female athletes.

"Nothing against Myles he is absolutely phenomenal, but just curious….what does a female athlete have to do to be nominated for athlete of the year @CLESports …?" Moon tweeted.

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Katie Moon shared her gold medal with Nina Kennedy at the 2023 World Athletics Championships

American pole vaulter Katie Moon made headlines at the 2023 World Athletics Championships for her gesture. On Day 5 of the championship, Moon competed against Australia’s Nina Kennedy.

Both athletes had cleared the bar at 4.90m, creating a deadlock. They then tried to clear the 4.95m mark, but failed in each of their three attempts.

After a physically and mentally draining experience, Moon decided against competing in the jump-off and shared the gold instead with Nina Kennedy.

Katie Moon shared her thoughts about her decision with the reporters in the aftermath of the competition. She said she did not expect it to “come down to something like that” and described the situation as a “battle and exhausting competition.” Moon said she was fatigued after repeated attempts to hit the 4.95m.

She told reporters:

"I said, ‘Okay, I want to jump’ and she said, 'You do?’ and then I was like wait a minute, there was an immediate [reaction] unless you want to share. She was like ‘Are you sure, are you sure?’ and I was like ‘Yes, absolutely’.”

Furthermore, Nina Kennedy also spoke to reporters about her contentment with Moon’s decision:

"Katie is the world champion and the Olympic gold medalist, she’s a fierce competitor and I didn’t think she’d want to share it. I looked at her and said ‘Hey girl, maybe you want to share this’ and you could see the relief in her eyes and on her face. It was mutual.”