Tokyo: Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi ultimately shared a rare Olympic athletics gold in the high jump.
Barshim – giving Qatar its first Olympic track and field title – and Tamberi recorded a best clearance of 2.37 metres.
Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus also cleared that height to set a national record. However, he missed out on a share of the gold because of an earlier failure.
Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim added Olympic gold to his list of accolades — and persuaded organisers to share it with his friend and rival, Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi.
It appeared to be a wonderful Olympic moment, a classic example of sportsmanship.
Both Barshim, 30, and the 29-year-old Tamberi did not have a failed attempt until they attempted to clear the 2.39-metre mark.
After three failures each at 2.39, they ended up tied and entered a conversation with an Olympic official, who first offered them a “jump-off” to decide the matter.
“Can we have two golds,” Barshim asked him.
The official nodded, and the two athletes clasped hands and whooped for joy.
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