Historical retrospectives
Historical · 2020-tokyo
"Can We Have Two Golds?": The Shared High Jump Glory
In an unforgettable display of sportsmanship, high jumpers Mutaz Essa Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi chose to share the Olympic gold medal after tying at 2.37 meters.
On August 1, 2021, inside the largely empty Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, the men's high jump final dissolved into a gripping stalemate between two friends and rivals: Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi. For two grueling hours, both men had been absolutely flawless. They matched each other jump for jump, clearing 2.37 meters on their first attempts without a single miss on their scorecards. When the bar was raised to the Olympic record height of 2.39 meters, exhaustion set in, and both athletes failed on their three attempts. According to the rulebook, a tiebreak "jump-off" was the standard protocol to crown a singular champion.
As a track official approached the exhausted jumpers to explain the jump-off procedure, Barshim interjected with a question that would echo through Olympic history: "Can we have two golds?" The official nodded, confirming that if both athletes agreed, the top prize could indeed be shared. Before the official could even finish his sentence, Barshim looked at Tamberi, extended his hand, and nodded. Tamberi didn't just accept; he erupted. The Italian slapped Barshim's hand, leapt into his arms, and then collapsed onto the track in a fit of ecstatic, screaming tears. It was the first shared gold medal in Olympic athletics since 1912, instantly becoming the defining image of the Games.
To truly understand the emotional weight of this moment, younger fans must look at the agonizing journeys both men took to reach Tokyo. Just days before the 2016 Rio Olympics, Tamberi suffered a catastrophic ankle ligament tear, forcing him to watch those Games with his leg in a cast—a cast he famously brought to the track in Tokyo as a reminder of his heartbreak. Barshim, too, had suffered a devastating, career-threatening Achilles injury in 2018. During their grueling rehabilitations, they had supported each other, bonding over the shared terror that their careers might be over.
When Tamberi sprinted down the track to embrace his compatriot Lamont Marcell Jacobs—who shockingly won the 100m dash moments later—the night was cemented as one of the greatest in Italian sports history. But the enduring legacy of the high jump final belongs to humanity. In a sporting world hyper-focused on singular dominance, Barshim and Tamberi chose mutual respect over a bitter tiebreak, proving that sometimes, the greatest victory is the one you share.