"They are shamed for it" - Katie Moon reacts to Shelby McEwen and Hamish Kerr deciding to not share high jump gold medal at Paris Olympics 2024

American pole vault silver medalist Katie Moon has shared her take on countryman Shelby McEwen, who missed out on the opportunity to win gold at the Paris Olympics in the men's high jump. McEwen chose not to share the gold and went on to lose it in the tiebreaker.

History repeated itself on Saturday, August 10 at the Stade de France arena, when Shelby McEwen of the United States and New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr were tied with their best jumps of 2.36 meters during the high jump finals, reminiscent of Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Essa Barshim's tie three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics high jump finals. However, this time around, the American and his counterpart decided not to share gold and proceeded to the tiebreaker rounds.

In the tiebreakers, both McEwen and Kerr could not clear the bar in any of their attempts, and as a result, officials decided to lower the bar. After 11 successive failed attempts, the New Zealander cleared the bar in the end with a jump of 2.34 meters and took home the gold medal. The 28-year-old American had to settle for silver after letting go of the golden opportunity, which sparked debate all over the internet.

Rodger Sherman, a sportswriter, took to his X handle (formerly Twitter) and shared the video of Tamberi and Barshim's Tokyo Olympics gold-winning moment. Along with the video, Sherman narrated McEwen losing the gold and tweeted:

"Tweeting this right after Team USA’s jumper turned down the opportunity to share gold medals and has missed every jump in the tiebreaker so far."

Katie Moon, the 33-year-old pole vault silver medalist at the Paris Olympics, responded to this by recalling the 2023 World Athletics Championships incident where she and her Australian counterpart Nina Kennedy had to share the pole vault gold. She wrote:

"Sheesh. We chose to share the gold last year, and we were called cowards, weak, etc. This year an athlete chooses to jump-off and they’re shamed for it as well. Let this be a note to all athletes: do whatever you feel in your heart is best for you, because you will never make everyone happy, even while bringing home medals for your country."

What Katie Moon had to say after Paris Olympics victory

Katie Moon at Olympic Games Paris 2024 - Athletics - Source: Getty

Katie Moon participated in her second consecutive Olympic Games in Paris, aiming to defend her pole vault title. However, the Lakewood-born athlete lost her crown to Australia's Nina Kennedy, who bagged the gold with a clearance of 4.90 meters.

Moon fell just 0.05 meters short after finishing second with a height of 4.85 meters. Speaking about her Paris Olympics performance the American pole vaulter stated (via Flo Track's YouTube channel):

"I wanted to come in here and defend my title, but with the year I've had, I'm just so ecstatic to be on the podium. I'm just so happy to not just that but to have jumped the wall; I felt like this is what I was capable of all year if my body would just play ball and hold up." [2:55 onwards]

Katie Moon added that she was grateful that everything just fell into place when it was needed the most at the Paris Olympics.