The men’s high jump final is unique in the long Olympic history of athletics. Not because of a world record, but because the Italian Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Essa Barshim from Qatar are creating an extraordinary sporting moment. And now we are Olympic champions together.
Actually, the rules in high jump are clear. If there are two athletes who not only jumped the same height, but also produced the same number of failed attempts, then a jump-off is required. Because there are no two winners in athletics, the requirements of the world association provide for a single winner. This is exactly what happened in the final of the Tokyo Olympics. The Italian Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Essa Barshim from Qatar mastered all heights up to and including 2.37 meters in lockstep, then failed three times at 2.39 meters. And with an agreement they ensured a premiere in the long Olympic history of the high jump.
A short video excerpt shows the two of them talking to a referee who apparently wants to explain the mode for the jump-off. Barshim asks whether “two gold medals” are conceivable, the official ponders briefly, then replies “that is possible”. Barshim and Tamberi look at each other, seem to be communicating without words. “If you decide to do it …”, the referee introduces, but the decision has long since been made. “That is history,” says Barshim, while Tamberi stretches to strike the agreement. Then the two high jumpers, who are now becoming two Olympic champions, embrace each other.
It is one of the great moments in Olympic history that Irish journalist Gavan Reilly sums up on Twitter as “the true essence of the sport”. Of course there is criticism that the two athletes should have jumped out a sole winner, just as the rules dictate. Tamberi then explained why he “would never have shared my medal with anyone else”, but he did with Barshim: “Mutaz has experienced the same thing as me,” he says after the competition, referring to the serious ankle injury they both had in recent years had thrown back: “It’s a magical night.”
Barshim emphasized in interviews after this agreement that “nobody decided”, “we just looked at each other.” Much more it is “a great feeling to share the gold with Marco”. The competitors repeatedly emphasized their friendship, which despite the countless competitions against each other had grown over time. Tamberi then cheered with a cast that he had not only kept from his injury, but had even taken with him to the stadium. “Road to Tokyo” was written on it, the “2020” crossed out, including a “2021”. A path at which there is a moment in which sports history was written.
Tamberi then screams his joy in the largely deserted Olympic Stadium when he falls to the ground in disbelief. The Italian, who often caused a stir with his unusual beard – half of his face shaved the other not – caused a sensation as reigning indoor world champion and outdoor European champion due to injury, and has never jumped as high as in the Olympic since then Final this Sunday. Barshim won bronze in London in 2012, then silver in Rio in 2016, and now both are Olympic champions. “It is a dream that has come true,” he explains afterwards, and Tamberi also speaks of a dream. Which both could now fulfill together, in a remarkable and extraordinary way.
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