Katie Moon
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.
What’s your relationship with fashion?
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.
Were there highlights of your time in fashion circles?
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’t think I’m creative enough to create and design things but I love the styling aspect.
Was a love of fashion deep rooted in you from a young age?
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’ve always loved fashion but I don’t get to showcase it quite as often as I’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’m already planning my outfits for that.
How did you get into studying fashion?
I went to a university for two years which didn’t have a fashion programme but I transferred and, while it was too late to change my major, I added fashion as a minor.
Can fashion be taught or is it instinctive and intuitive?
I think it can be taught to a certain degree. Some people are just born with it and I’m not necessarily one of those people. I look at some people how they put things together that I’d never ever think of and it just looks incredible. I think that’s something you’re born with… the best stylists in the world anyway.
Nowadays, is your fashion interest just for you or would you like it to be something more after your athletics career?
As of right now it’s just for me. I love the idea of one day getting into some form of it one day. I’ve talked about working in a bridal dress shop which has got to be the ultimate fashion choice for a woman. I don’t fully know what I want to do when I retire now but I’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. Maybe I’ll go into that.
What about getting involved with a sponsor about a fashion lilne?
Oh, I would love that. I’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.
You also studied psychology. How and why did that interest emerge?
I’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’m struggling. As a student, I don’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’s morphed into what I read now. It’s either suspense thrillers or something romantic - nothing educational just pure entertainment! It’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.
Does that mean you enjoy true crime podcasts?
I absolutely love them and documentaries too. There’s so many good ones. There’s so many fascinating ones. I’m not so interested in the cold cases, I need a resolve, the process of a whodunit and why.
Might you go down a psychology route in ‘retirement’?
I don’t know that I’d end up using it as it’s a lot and to be a good psychologist requires a lot of research and time. I don’t think I have the patience for that!
As an athlete is it healthy to have other passions away from the sport?
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’t go well, it can be really frustrating. But a bad day at track is ok and really puts it into perspective that you’re fine when other people are really going through bad things.
