TWO pole-vault legends had their most awkward chat ever on Wednesday night – deciding whether to share gold after an exhausting final.
Huge rivals Katie Moon and Nina Kennedy looked drained after the 130-MINUTE showdown for the World Championships crown in Budapest – but split opinion on social media with their resulting conversation.
Both cleared 4.90metres – then missed all three attempts at 4.95m.
They spoke a few metres apart at the stadium in Budapest, with a mixture of nodding, grimacing and smiling.
And it appeared to be Moon, the USA’S Olympic 2020 gold medal winner, who suggested the extremely rare outcome of a joint crown.
Defending champ Kennedy, from Australia, swung her hands nervously together as they discussed the idea.
The pair got closer to each other, and finally agreed to share gold – whilst dividing opinion amongst athletics fans.
The two athletes hugged, with Moon kissing her opponent on the cheek as they let out big grins and seemed relieved.
Kennedy broke down in tears and put her hand to her mouth at their golden moment.
But one observer tweeted, “Should have been a jump-off” and another hit out: “Give them both a silver.”
But on the opposite side of the track were verdicts like, “Wonderful moment, sport at its best” and “Ah, lovely”.
Moon, 32, admitted: “When the final started I didn’t think about sharing a gold medal would work for me but now I am completely satisfied.
“What a battle it was, oh my. What an amazing night, I hope everyone enjoyed that one. We did.”
Kennedy, 26 seemed just as satisfied – as it was a “dream come true”.
She added: “I jumped out of my skin tonight. It was super crazy.
“I felt like the whole stadium was watching every single jump.
“They were all around us tonight, it was really incredible.”
Their arrangement follows a famous shared victory for high-jump pals Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Barshim at the last Olympics in Tokyo.
They too chose a gold apiece rather than a jump-off. – The Sun.