SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — First they raised the bar. Then they lowered it.
Wherever they set the bar, American Shelby McEwen and world indoor champion Hamish Kerr of New Zealand failed to clear it in an endless jump-off for the high jump title. Olympic Games in Paris on Saturday.
It was Kerr who finally broke the streak of failures when he jumped 2.34 metres to take gold after missing 11 times in a row in the regular event and the jump-off between the two. There were so many misses that there wasn’t enough room on the scoreboard for all the Xs.
McEwen retained silver as both he and Kerr managed the prescribed time of 2.36 seconds.
The participants could have decided on a draw and both would have received a gold medal, which is exactly what happened at the Olympic Games in Tokyo between Mutaz Barshim from Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi from Italy.
“Doing it the way I did it was just incredible,” Kerr said. “It was crazy.”
Barshim won the bronze medal on Saturday with 2.34. Tamberi was eliminated early.
“I have a lot of respect for what they did in Tokyo, but I always thought it would be incredible to make history and get the chance to actually compete in the jump-off,” Kerr said. “I knew right away that we were going to make history, and we did it.”
Kerr celebrated by running enthusiastically around the field in the center of the Stade de France. When he returned to the high jump area, Kerr was congratulated by the other competitors, including Tamberi and Barshim.
Both Kerr and McEewen failed to clear 2.38 in their three attempts. Then they both missed 2.38 in the first round of the jump-off, two more missed 2.36 and McEwen missed 2.34 before Kerr ended the first event of the evening just moments before the women’s 4×400 relay was due to conclude as the final track and field event at the Stade de France.
Earlier, Tamberi had failed all three attempts at 2.27 – only the second height of the competition. He hid his hands in front of his face in disappointment and then Barshim came over to console his good friend as both men put their arms around each other.
Tamberi has been battling a number of physical problems in recent days. He was hospitalized for kidney stones and had a fever of 38.8 degrees. But he vowed to compete no matter what.
When it was over and Tamberi had finished 11th in the 12-man final, he went over and cried with his team in the stands.
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AP Olympiad: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
