PARIS, France — Katie Moon was a gold medal winning pole vaulter for Team USA three years ago in Tokyo -- but in some ways, the silver she won Wednesday in Paris felt even sweeter.
Moon, who has lived Powder Springs for several years, had been battling an Achilles injury throughout the track season. But she told 11Alive's Cheryl Preheim on Thursday that it came together for her at the most important time, on the most important stage -- at Paris' famed Stade de France -- for a medal-winning effort.
"It really weighs on you, especially in an Olympic year, it's really just emotionally draining when I show up to practice and I wanna give it everything I can and my body's just holding me back," Moon said. "And I felt like if my Achilles held up, this is what I was capable of. And so having a year when you're just performing at a subpar level is very frustrating, so to have it come together on the most important day - I'm just so happy."
Moon's vault of 4.85 meters equaled a season best, underscoring how her best performance this year came at precisely the right time.
She told Cheryl she felt encouraged that there seemed to be a positive attitude about winning silver -- rather than "losing" the gold she had won three years ago in Tokyo.
"I hope no one feels like I let them down... I'm glad people are embracing more of -- if you win a medal, you still won, as opposed to, oh you didn't win, what's wrong with you. And I think as a society we are getting better about supporting any medal," she said. "Just at the Olympics, it's so, so incredibly hard to medal and so to have done it twice, it's very surreal."
For Moon, the additional meaning of her performance in Paris came with being able to have friends and family in the stands at the deafening Stade de France -- in what she signaled may be her last time competing.
"It was everything, and that's what made this one so special, and I think that's why I'm not disappointed that I didn't win," she said. "I would have loved to defend my title -- I battled to try and do that -- but I had a great day, and I could hear them (family and friends) as I was on the runway getting ready for my attempts, and I have always done better with family and friends watching me. And it just made it so fun.
"This meet was the most fun I've possibly ever had, and that was my only goal. Because there is a very real chance that this is my last one, so I obviously wanted to win some hardware, but I just wanted to execute and have as much as possible and they (family and friends) were a huge part of that."