There have been some unbelievable sights at this Olympics – a giant ball of drones, a 100m track transformed into a spectacular reality TV set and the first shared track and field gold medal in 109 years.
Close friends and high jumpers Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy got permisison to share the gold medal from event officials, having gone flawless through the final on Sunday night, making every jump from 2.19 metres to 2.37 metres.
With the Olympic record of 2.39m next, Barshim and Tamberi instead spoke with officials about whether they had to continue to decide gold, with Barshim asking: “Can we have two golds?”
The officials told them they could share, and both went off to celebrate.
Was it an incredible, uplifting moment of sportsmanship or a cunning ploy to give two men a gold?
While social media couldn’t find a concensus, there is no doubt the pair’s close bond would have played a role in their decision.
The story of their friendship stretches back to 2016 when Tamberi broke his ankle in Monaco. On his return the next year he felt that his opponents were cheering him on as if they were his fans, helping him overcome the doubt and poor form that afflicted him.
“I was feeling a little like a baby competing with the adults,” Tamberi wrote for Spikes website in 2018.
“You know, sometimes there’s a child that gets to play with adults and everyone tells them how good they are, they give them the ball and say ‘Go, Go, Go’. That was me. They passed me the ball every time. It felt like a team effort. I can’t put into words how much I appreciated it then and I still appreciate it a lot now.
“With Mutaz especially I built a great relationship. I remember, I went from Ostrava to Paris, and I did badly in Paris, really awful. I couldn’t clear my opening height. I was feeling frustrated, because I didn’t know whether I’d ever get back to the shape I was in in 2016.
“Other jumpers would come to me afterwards, but I didn’t want to talk to nobody. I went directly to my room.
“The day after, Mutaz started knocking on my room and he wouldn’t go away. First I just wanted him to leave. He persisted and was shouting: “Gimbo. Gimbo, please I want to talk to you.” So I gave in and let him in.
“We talked. I cried in front of him. He tried to calm me down, and told me what he had to say.
“The most important thing he helped me realise was that I had to do it for myself, not for others.”
Social media, though, chewed over the decision, as social media does.
Big Mig
Roar Rookie
and Channel 7 track and field commentator and former Olympian David Culbert said that the right outcome was reached. “They changed the rules a few years ago so athletes can decide no jump off. Share the gold. They both deserve it. Clear to 2.37. A jump off would have been an anti climax,” he tweeted.
Scuba
Guest
With the Olympic record of 2.39m next, Barshim and Tamberi instead spoke with officials about whether they had to continue to decide gold, with Barshim asking: “Can we have two golds?” It's misinformation like this that leads to the type dumb social media comments that appear in this article. Both jumpers missed all three attempts at 2.39, they were tied on countback, and they agreed not to have a jump off. They didn't just get to 2.39 and say - "can't be bothered any more, do you have a spare gold medal so that we can both have one?"
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
normally it is countback, but I’m sure I heard the official offer to raise the height for a jump-off and the Qatari asked if they could share. Great moment. Actually, just saw the video in this post, it’s all there.
Paul
Roar Guru
I find the negative social media comments on these types of issues both boorish & childish. If the geniuses who wrote them had any issues with the results, why are they blaming the athletes? They’re not the ones who made the decision to award two gold medals. All they did was ask if it was possible for reasons that are obvious from this story and the people in charge of this event said yes. Perhaps if those naysayers understood that sport is far more than just winning, they might have a change of mind, though I doubt greatly that would be possible because they’d have to come to terms with concepts like mutual respect, pride in other’s achievements, support through seriously tough times, etc.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
great moment in sport. Two great high jumpers. I didn't know they were close and thought the Qatari was just being nice. The emotions that followed from both of them was next level. I thought the Qatari looked like he could go on with it, he did some super jumps.
AGO74
Guest
My understanding is that there are ways to count back (eg missed jumps) and determine the winner but even then they couldn’t be split. Fine with me. Not like we make two people who dead heat in a swimming final re-race each other.
Mungbean74
Guest
Both anthems at the same time might sound weird, or do they do a DJ mix up!? I have no problems with both receiving gold, win win for both parties!
Big Mig
Roar Rookie
Both had not missed a jump, both breaking the Olympic record, and if it's in the rule book, gold why not?