Workforce USA excessive jumper Shelby McEwen stood by his choice to participate in a jump-off as a substitute of merely accepting a shared gold medal throughout Saturday’s excessive bounce ultimate.
McEwen and New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr each cleared the two.36 meter jumps however had been unable to finish a 2.38 meter bounce through the regulation interval. At that time, McEwen and Kerr had two choices: they may conform to share the gold medal or they may go to a jump-off to attempt to settle the competitors. In 2021 on the Tokyo Olympics, Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi discovered themselves in the identical scenario and selected to share honors.
Kerr was adamant that he needed to maintain leaping, and McEwen was not about to struggle him on it, although he admitted he was feeling very fatigued by that time.
“He stated it first, and I agreed to it,” McEwen stated, via Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post. “Sooner or later, I sort of acquired fatigued. I possibly would have shared it with him, for certain. However I agreed to it, and it was all good.”
For his half, Kerr stated his choice got here out of wanting so as to add to high-jump lore, which meant not merely repeating the identical ending because the earlier Olympics had produced.
“For me, I might have been so proud to come back in second in jumpoff — most likely prouder than sharing a gold medal understanding that had already occurred. That was the massive factor for me: Attempting so as to add to that historical past otherwise,” Kerr stated.
In the end, the 2 missed 11 straight jumps — even with the bar being lowered — earlier than Kerr cleared a 2.34 meter bounce to win gold. McEwen needed to accept silver, however stated he didn’t remorse his choice in any respect.
The shared gold medal within the earlier Olympics made for a memorable sight, however it’s comprehensible why these two most popular to push ahead. They’re competing on the highest degree, in spite of everything, and unquestionably needed to settle this.
