On Wednesday, August 23, former Ashland University Eagle and track star Katie Moon competed in the 2023 World Athletics Outdoor Championships, held in Budapest, Hungary, in hopes of finding her second gold medal.

Fortunately for her, that hope would become a reality as she outperformed numerous competitors en route to back-to-back gold medals at the World Athletics Outdoor Championships.

Before competing in the 2023 Championships, she also showcased her talents at two 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships where she took home national titles and won an indoor title. In 2021, she won a gold medal in the Summer Olympics, marking her first professional taste of glory.

She took home a gold medal in the 2022 World Athletics Outdoor Championships, and in the Indoor Championships that year she secured a silver medal.

With plenty of success under her belt heading into the championship round on Wednesday, the confidence stemmed high.

“Onto the final! What an incredible prelim with all 12 girls jumping the auto qualify shows just how talented this field is,” she said on her social media pages Tuesday. “So grateful for the opportunity to represent U.S.A. tomorrow!”

Moon would go on to represent U.S.A. in the highest degree as it came down to her, and Australia’s Nina Kennedy to see who would be crowned champion. The two battled back and fourth with both athletes hitting the mark of 4.9 meters or 16-feet-3/4.

“As the competition was going I knew this would be going to a jump off, but I didn’t want it to,” Moon said in a press conference following the championships.

After that happened, both athletes talked with one another and decided that they would share the gold medal, the first time such an event has happened in the Athletics World Championships.

“The competition was the hardest battle I have ever had,” she said. “To go for 95, it was very emotionally draining. I think thats why both of us wanted to ultimately share [the medal].”