Katie Moon has won it all from the past three world titles to Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games five years ago. But as her pole vault career was taking off, she was also studying fashion and psychology. She spoke to World Athletics about her passions away from the sport in the last edition of Side Track.
<h3>What&rsquo;s your relationship with fashion?</h3>
I love fashion, I love style and I just think you can say so much about who you are with how you dress. Athleisure is now becoming prominent in fashion and loungewear is much more elevated so you can have a lot of fun in it.
<h3>Were there highlights of your time in fashion circles?</h3>
I went to Paris to study in 2013 to finish my degree at the Paris Fashion Institute for a four-week intensive fashion programme. I got to dress models for Paris Fashion Week and we created our own line without actually physically making the clothes. I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;m creative enough to create and design things but I love the styling aspect.&nbsp;
<h3>Was a love of fashion deep rooted in you from a young age?</h3>
I think even as a little kid I loved dressing up Polly Pocket and Barbies, and probably played with them longer than most people did but, for me, it was mostly just about putting them in outfits. I&rsquo;ve always loved fashion but I don&rsquo;t get to showcase it quite as often as I&rsquo;d like. For most people, it might not be the first thing they think of me with my social media but I very much enjoy going on trips and planning my outfits. I do that a few days out and love making lists for what to pack for everyday is. At the end of the season the family and I after Budapest are off to Dubrovnik and I&rsquo;m already planning my outfits for that.
<h3>How did you get into studying fashion?</h3>
I went to a university for two years which didn&rsquo;t have a fashion programme but I transferred and, while it was too late to change my major, I added fashion as a minor.
<h3>Can fashion be taught or is it instinctive and intuitive?</h3>
I think it can be taught to a certain degree. Some people are just born with it and I&rsquo;m not necessarily one of those people. I look at some people how they put things together that I&rsquo;d never ever think of and it just looks incredible. I think that&rsquo;s something you&rsquo;re born with&hellip; the best stylists in the world anyway.
<h3>Nowadays, is your fashion interest just for you or would you like it to be something more after your athletics career?</h3>
As of right now it&rsquo;s just for me. I love the idea of one day getting into some form of it one day. I&rsquo;ve talked about working in a bridal dress shop which has got to be the ultimate fashion choice for a woman. I don&rsquo;t fully know what I want to do when I retire now but I&rsquo;ve thought about different avenues. I did colour analysis where you figure out your best ones and see how the skin reacts and your eyes light up. They classify you as a season and I was winter, which is bright, cool colours like royal blue, burgundy, emerald green or Christmas colours.&nbsp;Maybe I&rsquo;ll go into that.&nbsp;
<h3>What about getting involved with a sponsor about a fashion lilne?</h3>
Oh, I would love that. I&rsquo;m sponsored by Nike and I love the idea of one day working with them. During my career, the designers at Nike have been great at listening to me and I think us athletes can have insights into what works.&nbsp;
<h3>You also studied psychology. How and why did that interest emerge?</h3>
I&rsquo;ve always been fascinated by abnormal psychology - true crime and that sort of thing. And I do actually think at some level from an athlete perspective it has helped. I know the value of speaking to psychiatrists and psychologists if I&rsquo;m struggling. As a student, I don&rsquo;t think I had patience for the research, I just wanted to learn about the cases. When I was younger, I loved the show CSI or a whodunit, and it&rsquo;s morphed into what I read now. It&rsquo;s either suspense thrillers or something romantic - nothing educational just pure entertainment! It&rsquo;s just fascinating to me that in theory a brain in its physical make-up is the same person to person but the way that someone thinks or behaves is so drastically different person to person.
<h3>Does that mean you enjoy true crime podcasts?</h3>
I absolutely love them and documentaries too. There&rsquo;s so many good ones. There&rsquo;s so many fascinating ones. I&rsquo;m not so interested in the cold cases, I need a resolve, the process of a whodunit and why.&nbsp;
<h3>Might you go down a psychology route in &lsquo;retirement&rsquo;?</h3>
I don&rsquo;t know that I&rsquo;d end up using it as it&rsquo;s a lot and to be a good psychologist requires a lot of research and time. I don&rsquo;t think I have the patience for that!&nbsp;
<h3>As an athlete is it healthy to have other passions away from the sport?</h3>
I think the distractions are helpful and you need to find the right outlets for you. It's part of my way of keeping my mind off the track and keeping things in perspective. I love what I do but, if it doesn&rsquo;t go well, it can be really frustrating. But a bad day at track is ok and really puts it into perspective that you&rsquo;re fine when other people are really going through bad things.

World Athletics Ultimate Championship

Katie Moon is a world renowned pole vaulter, an Olympic gold medallist and a three-time world champion. But just as her athletics career was getting off the ground, she was also delving into the world of fashion and psychology. She sat down to chat to World Athletics for the latest edition of Side Track.

Side Track with Katie Moon

Letsile Tebogo first properly burst on to the global scene at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest where he won individual medals in the 100m and 200m. On his return to the Hungarian capital, we asked the Olympic 200m champion What's your Ultimate?
Ultimate performance&hellip; The Paris 2024 Olympics and the men's 200m final&nbsp;
Ultimate event (bar your own)&hellip; FIFA Club World Cup 2025.&nbsp;
Ultimate career goal&hellip; To reach legendary status.&nbsp;
Ultimate athlete&hellip; Kobe Bryant.
Ultimate clash&hellip; The men's 4x400m - Africa vs the rest of the world.
Ultimate memory&hellip; The Paris 2024 Olympics and the men's 4x400m relay final.
Ultimate venue&hellip; Botswana National Stadium (World Athletics Relays, Gaborone 2026).
Ultimate meal... Setswana traditional food (Bogobe jwa lerotse, Beef and morogo).
Ultimate night out/night in&hellip; Games night.&nbsp;
Ultimate possession&hellip; Toyota Land Cruiser, LXV8.
Ultimate hidden talent&hellip; Self-taught car mechanic. 😅
Ultimate day off&hellip; Farm visit.
Ultimate holiday&nbsp; destination&hellip; Dumatau camp (Linyanti) and Mombo (Okavango Delta) - Botswana .
Ultimate pre-competition song&hellip; Ditiro Leero (Ke tswa kgakala Ga Maila).
Ultimate movie&hellip; Shooter (ok it's a TV series!).

Sprinter Letsile Tebogo of Botswana is the Olympic champion for the 200m and was also part of the star-studded national 4x400m team to win the world title last year. He's the latest athlete being asked What's your Ultimate?

What's your Ultimate with Letsile Tebogo

Jake Wightman has long had a love of coffee. So, the 2022 world 1500m champion and his fellow athlete Zak Seddon set up their own business, Last Rep Coffee, which is the global supplier for the World Athletics Ultimate Championship. In the build-up to Budapest, Wightman sat down to talk about his other working life in a new series, Side Track.
<h3>How is the business going?</h3>
We&rsquo;re pretty proud of it. We started when I was in Tokyo during the World Championships last year, which probably wasn&rsquo;t the best timing, but there&rsquo;s been a lot of good and exciting opportunities in the first year. I think it&rsquo;s been a lot sooner than expected.
<h3>What&rsquo;s the ethos behind it?</h3>
Zak and I planned it for three years and getting the brand right and how we wanted it was the hardest part. We wanted fun and personality and to adapt to what people want &ndash; an athlete, team organisations, a meeting, to provide unique opportunities for that. We realised that the real power was coming to an event and creating a space where it feels part of the occasion rather than a separate company. For example, we&rsquo;ve got bags with beans from Budapest &ndash; from local roasters &ndash; and merch from the Ultimate Championship but every one has a different story. This one is a story pertinent to me too as I&rsquo;m trying to get to the championship as well as an athlete. Essentially, we&rsquo;re a platform to bring people together with coffee and have a good time.
<h3>What was the origin story behind the business?</h3>
Many athletes have coffee as a big part of their lives. There&rsquo;s a lot of free time and we meet other athletes and friends, and chatting about anything other than the sport is a nice way to switch off. So, there&rsquo;s that social element but also a performance association as to why people drink coffee before they train. And we didn&rsquo;t think there was anything runners could identify with when it came to choosing a coffee brand. Now, there&rsquo;s a bag on the shelf which is cool, it&rsquo;s something people can relate to and be part of this little family.
<h3>Has the growth of the business been bigger than you can cope with?</h3>
No, not so far. There&rsquo;s been some opportunities that have been too much of a commitment &ndash; we had the chance to go into a physical coffee shop but that&rsquo;s a step too far at the moment. We know we can supply good coffee beans and cool bags and cups, our baristas are amazing at making good coffee. And there&rsquo;s a big gap in the market as an athlete going to meets and there being good coffee &ndash; we all spend so much time finding a hidden gem. Athletes drink a lot of it and are a bit snobby. This makes life better. We&rsquo;re not into coffee that alienates people &ndash; not really niche beans but really good roasters that everyone likes. Crowd pleasers if you like.
<h3>Let&rsquo;s talk about the artwork. It&rsquo;s pretty cool.</h3>
Originally people think it&rsquo;s us but actually it&rsquo;s just guys with generic brown hair. It&rsquo;s identifying with an old school runner, it&rsquo;s pretty fun. We&rsquo;ve also got him on a bike and lifting weights. The beauty is that it&rsquo;s easy to tailor. We&rsquo;re working with Team Scotland for the Commonwealth Games, too &ndash; for that he&rsquo;s got a tartan kilt. The main aim is not to take ourselves too seriously. It&rsquo;s about being a bit tongue in cheek and enjoying it. Coffee&rsquo;s not serious, it&rsquo;s a social drink for any part of your day.
<h3>Do you come from a business background at all?</h3>
I actually did a business degree at university, and my first venture into business was recovery tool kits which you clipped on to your bag with a mini foam roller, resistance bands, massage balls. It went well but it was hard to do as the running went better and it had to go on the back burner. I regret not keeping on doing it as I was passionate about it and genuinely believed it would work.&nbsp;
<h3>So how will Last Rep Coffee look in Budapest?</h3>
We&rsquo;re going to be there in the athlete lounges, we&rsquo;re going to have baristas in the hotels with coffee cups, and each athlete is going to get a custom bag of beans from Budapest and a cup with it as well. We&rsquo;ll also be in the VIP area of the stadium.
<h3>And what about with Team Scotland at the Commonwealth Games?</h3>
Every athlete will get his or her own bag and a cup within that. We&rsquo;re using a roaster in Scotland as well.
<h3>What&rsquo;s the plan for the business going forward?</h3>
We&rsquo;d love to be part of the Olympic experience or Team GB &ndash; that would be a huge long-term aim &ndash; or things like the Diamond League, London Marathon or, in cycling, part of British Cycling or Ineos. One thing we&rsquo;ve done is a bag with Alex Yee so we&rsquo;d like to do more with athletes and be story tellers with that &ndash; big athletes with big personalities. We&rsquo;d just love to bring more people to our brand.
<h3>Has the business helped or hindered your running at all?</h3>
It&rsquo;s definitely helped. I probably have undiagnosed ADHD as my mind ticks over a lot. I don&rsquo;t want to think about sport every minute of the day so, when I finish running, I have something I can chuck the same level of commitment and effort into. It&rsquo;s so cool, I really enjoy it and I think it&rsquo;s helped.
<h3>How long before this becomes a full-time career and you stop the competitive running?</h3>
I think Los Angeles is the end point unless London gets the World Championships in 2029 and then it&rsquo;d be silly not to carry on for another year. I don&rsquo;t have a burning desire to do loads before I retire. I still want to run well at major championships and win but I don&rsquo;t have to do it, these things are just opportunities. This year, there&rsquo;s some great opportunities with the Commonwealth Games, the European Championships and the Ultimate in Budapest. Racing&rsquo;s the fun bit.

Jake Wightman is a world 1500m champion but, when not taking on the world's best, he runs his own business Last Rep Coffee.

Side track with Jake Wightman

Olympic champions, world champions, Diamond League winners battle to be crowned the Ultimate Champion

11-13 SEPTEMBER 2026

SPARKS WILL FLY

<h2 style="text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">FOLLOW THE STAR JOURNEY TO BUDAPEST</h2>
<div style="padding: 56.25% 0 0 0; position: relative;"><iframe style="position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;" title="World Athletics Ultimate Championship" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1177317469?autoplay=1&amp;muted=1&amp;badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479&amp;loop=1" frameborder="0"></iframe></div>

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/sweden/armand-duplantis-14679502" target="_blank" rel="noopener">POLE VAULT &bull; SWE</a>

MONDO DUPLANTIS

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/tara-davis-woodhall-14596561" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LONG JUMP &bull; USA</a>

TARA DAVIS-WOODHALL

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/grant-holloway-14516985" target="_blank" rel="noopener">110M HURDLES &bull; USA</a>

GRANT HOLLOWAY

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/ukraine/yaroslava-mahuchikh-14739628" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HIGH JUMP &bull; UKR</a>

YAROSLAVA MAHUCHIKH

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/norway/jakob-ingebrigtsen-14653717" target="_blank" rel="noopener">5000M &bull; NOR</a>

JAKOB INGEBRIGTSEN

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/masai-russell-14659011" target="_blank" rel="noopener">100M HURDLES &bull; USA</a>

MASAI RUSSELL

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/canada/ethan-katzberg-14809348" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HAMMER THROW &bull; CAN</a>

ETHAN KATZBERG

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/saint-lucia/julien-alfred-14646562" target="_blank" rel="noopener">100M &bull; LCA</a>

JULIEN ALFRED

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/greece/miltiadis-tentoglou-14669734" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LONG JUMP &bull; GRE</a>

MILTIADIS TENTOGLOU

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/great-britain-ni/keely-hodgkinson-14642894" target="_blank" rel="noopener">800M &bull; GBR</a>

KEELY HODGKINSON

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/rai-benjamin-14574865" target="_blank" rel="noopener">400M HURDLES &bull; USA</a>

RAI BENJAMIN

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/australia/nina-kennedy-14407592" target="_blank" rel="noopener">POLE VAULT &bull; AUS</a>

NINA KENNEDY

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/noah-lyles-14536762" target="_blank" rel="noopener">100M &bull; USA</a>

NOAH LYLES

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/kenya/faith-kipyegon-14413305" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1500M &bull; KEN</a>

FAITH KIPYEGON

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/japan/haruka-kitaguchi-14649131" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JAVELIN THROW &bull; JPN</a>

HARUKA KITAGUCHI

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/commonwealth-of-dominica/thea-lafond-14416826" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TRIPLE JUMP &bull; DMA</a>

THEA LAFOND

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/new-zealand/hamish-kerr-14633982" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HIGH JUMP &bull; NZL</a>

HAMISH KERR

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/botswana/letsile-tebogo-14883897" target="_blank" rel="noopener">200M &bull; BOT</a>

LETSILE TEBOGO

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/dominican-republic/marileidy-paulino-14749613" target="_blank" rel="noopener">400M &bull; DOM</a>

MARILEIDY PAULINO

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/cole-hocker-14905834" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1500M &bull; USA</a>

COLE HOCKER

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/gabrielle-thomas-14733520" target="_blank" rel="noopener">200M &bull; USA</a>

GABRIELLE THOMAS

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/kenya/emmanuel-wanyonyi-14974928" target="_blank" rel="noopener">800M &bull; KEN</a>

EMMANUEL WANYONYI

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/kenya/beatrice-chebet-14749924" target="_blank" rel="noopener">5000M &bull; KEN</a>

BEATRICE CHEBET

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/pakistan/arshad-nadeem-14698105" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JAVELIN THROW &bull; PAK</a>

ARSHAD NADEEM

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/quincy-hall-14597236" target="_blank" rel="noopener">400M &bull; USA</a>

QUINCY HALL

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/sydney-mclaughlin-levrone-14624749" target="_blank" rel="noopener">400M HURDLES &bull; USA</a>

SYDNEY MCLAUGHLIN-LEVRONE

Qualified by winning in Paris

Olympic champions

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/kenya/lilian-odira-14758184" target="_blank" rel="noopener">800M &bull; KEN</a>

LILIAN ODIRA

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/italy/mattia-furlani-14905216" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LONG JUMP &bull; ITA</a>

MATTIA FURLANI

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/switzerland/ditaji-kambundji-14739461" target="_blank" rel="noopener">100M HURDLES &bull; SUI</a>

DITAJI KAMBUNDJI

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/noah-lyles-14536762" target="_blank" rel="noopener">200M &bull; USA</a>

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/botswana/busang-collen-kebinatshipi-14935809" target="_blank" rel="noopener">400M &bull; BOT</a>

COLLEN KEBINATSHIPI

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/australia/nicola-olyslagers-14455361" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HIGH JUMP &bull; AUS</a>

NICOLA OLYSLAGERS

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/jamaica/oblique-seville-14737998" target="_blank" rel="noopener">100M &bull; JAM</a>

OBLIQUE SEVILLE

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/melissa-jefferson-wooden-14756997" target="_blank" rel="noopener">100M &amp; 200M &bull; USA</a>

MELISSA JEFFERSON-WOODEN

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/cole-hocker-14905834" target="_blank" rel="noopener">5000M &bull; USA</a>

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/katie-moon-14373744" target="_blank" rel="noopener">POLE VAULT &bull; USA</a>

KATIE MOON

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/portugal/isaac-nader-14756630" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1500M &bull; POR</a>

ISAAC NADER

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/netherlands/femke-bol-14707010" target="_blank" rel="noopener">400M HURDLES &bull; NED</a>

FEMKE BOL

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/cordell-tinch-14719972" target="_blank" rel="noopener">110M HURDLES &bull; USA</a>

CORDELL TINCH

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/cuba/leyanis-perez-hernandez-14828679" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TRIPLE JUMP &bull; CUB</a>

LEYANIS PEREZ HERNANDEZ

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/trinidad-and-tobago/keshorn-walcott-14376122" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JAVELIN THROW &bull; TTO</a>

KESHORN WALCOTT

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/ecuador/juleisy-angulo-14718123" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JAVELIN THROW &bull; ECU</a>

JULEISY ANGULO

<a href="https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/sydney-mclaughlin-levrone-14624749" target="_blank" rel="noopener">400M &bull; USA</a>

Qualified by winning in Tokyo

World champions

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World Athletics Ultimate Championship – debuting 11-13 September 2026 in Budapest – register now for info

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