"The issue is that we haven’t had a “down” year since 2018" - Katie Moon reacts as Jazmin Sawyers becomes latest athlete set to miss Paris Olympics

Katie Moon has weighed in on the pressures of track and field after British long jumper and European Champion Jazmin Sawyers has become the latest addition to the list of athletes set to miss out on the Olympic Games due to injury woes.

Earlier this month, defending Olympic Champion and four-time World Championship gold-medalist in the triple jump, Yulimar Rojas, announced that she would not be competing in Paris. The world record holder suffered an injury to her Achilles tendon which needed surgery.

A handful of days later, Indian long jumper and Asian Games silver-medalist, Sreeshankar Murali told fans that he would be foregoing the Games, due to an issue in his knee which would require surgery.

Now, Jazmin Sawyers has become the latest to fall victim to an injury ahead of the 2024 Olympics. The Brit announced that she had ruptured her Achilles on her take-off leg, and was ‘devastated’ that she would have to miss out on Paris.

Reacting to the news of Sawyers’ injury, a track and field fan account on X (formerly Twitter) wondered if it was the shoes that were putting athletes at a disadvantage.

“How many achilles ruptures/tears is that now?? Usually, you'd look to the spikes... but Jazmin is with Adidas & Rojas with Nike. Maybe it's not the brand, but the recent big push in technology to make ‘the best super shoe’. Are athletes' bodies struggling to adapt?,” they wrote.

Replying to this, Katie Moon chimed in to say that more than the shoe, it was the fact that athletes hadn't had a proper break since 2018, expressing,

“Unfortunately I think the issue is more that we haven’t had a “down” year since 2018. Every year since then (because even 2020 we didn’t know Covid was going to cancel everything until we had already had full Olympic style preseasons) we’ve not really had a break. Just adds up😕”

Katie Moon likely to open 2024 season at the Prefontaine Classic

Meanwhile, Katie Moon is likely to kick off her Olympic season with an appearance at the 2024 Prefontaine Classic. The event is set to take place at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, on the May 25.

So far, the Olympic and World Champion has not taken to the field this year, choosing to opt out of events like the Suzhou and Shanghai Diamond Leagues. A handful of days earlier, the official X account of the Prefontaine Classic announced that Katie Moon would indeed be competing in Eugene.

With no notable events lined up before that, it is likely to be the American’s debut of the season. Fans excited to watch Moon live in action can purchase tickets from Ticketmaster or catch the broadcast on NBC Peacock.