Mutaz Essa Barshim from Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi from Italy have chosen to share the Olympic high jump gold medal.
The two athletes were competing in an unbelievably intense final, which ended in both of them jumping 2.37 meters.
Interestingly, neither of them had any failed attempts in their run to the final, but both had a hard time going above the 2.39 mark. The current Olympic record is 2.39 meters. It was set by Charles Austin back in 1996.
Wow. What a moment of elation. Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi have agreed to share the gold medal in the high jump.
They did not have any misses through 2.37m. No jump-off. #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/WuX3RD4r5d
— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) August 1, 2021
Normally, according to the rules, the athletes would have to go through another jump-off to determine the winner, but Barshim asked Olympic officials if he and Tamberi could share two gold medals instead.
And while Tambieri remained quiet at first, he eventually jumped on Barshim for a happy hug.
Barshim, btw, had helped Tamberi come back from a career-threatening ankle injury since the last Olympics.
Sports ❤️. pic.twitter.com/fmHEwBSFFy
— Andrew Fidel Fernando (@afidelf) August 1, 2021
People on social media have applauded their sportsmanship.
One person commented:
“Wow. What a moment of elation. Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi have agreed to share the gold medal in the high jump. They did not have any misses through 2.37m. No jump-off.”
Another person wrote:
“I didn’t know anything about high jump five minutes ago and now I’ll never forget Barshim and Tamberi sharing the gold medal for the high jump. Incredible scenes.”
Another fan made a tweet saying:
“Wow…! The extraordinary, emotional moment Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi agree to share the high jump gold medal.”
The true essence of sportsmanship.
🇮🇹 Gianmarco Tamberi and 🇶🇦 Mutaz Barshim are approached about a high-jump tiebreaker jump-off… and agree to share the Olympic title.#Athletics #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/HyyJU0MtT3
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) August 1, 2021
Both athletes had gone through serious injuries in the competition.
Barshim hurt his ankle ligaments at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial games in Hungary back in 2018, and Tamberi damaged his Achilles tendon in 2016, which prevented him from competing at the Rio 2016 games.
What are your thoughts on this incredible moment of true sportsmanship? Let us know by joining the conversation in the comments and please share this article if you’ve enjoyed it.
