The Olympic victory in the men’s high jump could have been shared for the second time in a row. Now it was decided differently than in Tokyo.
Paris Olympics on channels 26.7.–11.8. Go to the competition website here. You can find the entire program of the games here.
The men’s height Olympic final saw exactly the same situation as three years ago. However, the final solution was different now.
New Zealand Hamish Kerr and the USA Shelby McEven were about to share the victory of the race. Both had crossed the height of 236, but neither of them got over the next height of 238. When the protocol was the same for the gentlemen, they were both determined to win.
Competitors were given the choice of sharing the gold or jumping so that the better one would win in the end. In the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Italy Gianmarco Tamberi and Bahrain Mutaz Essa Barshim were in the same situation.
They decided to share the gold, which made many people wonder: why does this work in elite sports? However, the rules allow for that.
However, this time it did not end in sharing the Olympic victory. Thus the winner was decided at a lower height, 234. Kerr exceeded this height, the American did not. Barshim was third in the race.
Thus, Kerr became the first male New Zealand athlete to win Olympic gold in 48 years. John Walker won the 1,500 meters at the 1976 Montreal Games.
Statistical workshop Mirko Jalavan according to the previous time such an Olympic repetition was seen in men’s height at the 1932 Games.
A year ago there was also a shudder when the women’s pole vault world championship was awarded to the USA by Katie Moon and Australia Nina Kennedy between. Wilma Murto was third in that Budapest race.