By Chang-Ran Kim
TOKYO (Reuters) - American Katie Moon became the first woman to win a third consecutive world pole vault title on Wednesday when she cleared a season's best 4.90 metres to edge out compatriot Sandi Morris.
The 34-year-old Moon won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in the same National Stadium venue in 2021.
Morris, the Rio Olympic silver medallist from 2016, collected a fourth world silver after clearing 4.85m, while Slovenia's Tina Sutej took bronze with 4.80m.
The contest for gold looked
to be between Moon and Morris from the early stages, the two Americans being alone in clearing the first three heights up to 4.75m on their first attempts. Only two others in the field eventually cleared it.
Morris, 33, gave Moon a run for her money in the absence of Australian Nina Kennedy, the Paris Olympic gold medallist who had pulled out days before the worlds due to a leg injury. Kennedy had shared the last world championship gold with Moon in Budapest.
With the first four heights cleared at the first attempt, Moon got the first edge on Morris, only to have the tables turned when Morris raised the bar to 4.85m and cleared at the first attempt.
After failing on her first attempt at that height, Moon went all or nothing by taking her next attempt at 4.90m, which she managed on her final attempt.
Morris failed twice at 4.90m, and then with a last hail-mary attempt at 4.95m, to end up the bridesmaid yet again to Queen Katie.
Moon had an attempt at the 5.01m championship record set by Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva in 2005, but ran through and decided to celebrate the win.
(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
