For the first time in 109 years, an Olympic gold medal was shared in athletics after high jumpers Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy chose to both become champions.
The pair were both flawless through the final on Sunday night, passing every level from 2.19 metres all the way up to 2.37 metres without a single fault.
That made them equal-first on countback, with the only other man who cleared 2.37m - Belarus’ Maksim Nedaeskau - having faulted at 2.19m and 2.35m before passing.
With the Olympic record of 2.39m the next level, Barshim and Tamberi instead spoke with officials about whether they even needed to enter a jump-off to decide gold.
“Do we have to go?” the Qatari jumper was heard asking.
The pair then shook hands and celebrated as joint gold medallists.
In a sense half a gold was fitting for Tamberi, who became famous in high jumping for shaving half of his face and donning a ‘half-beard’ at major events.
It was the first time since Stockholm 1912 that a gold medal was shared in athletics - it happened in both the pentathlon and decathlon that Games.
Social media erupted with positivity about the decision from the pair, though others asked if it was really sportsmanship or just smart, since neither lost anything.
Australia’s Brandon Starc finished a brilliant fifth, clearing 2.35 metres, which would’ve won him gold at every Games since 2000.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/tokyo-...p/news-story/2543841fef3ac013db2a236cdeccff99