Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi shared one of the more heartwarming moments of the 2020 Toyko Games on Sunday when the two high jumpers decided to share the gold medal instead of having a jump off to declare a single winner.
Barshim and Tamberi were tied up after both were unable to clear the last height of 2.39 meters (7.8 feet) following three attempts.
The two didn’t know if sharing a gold medal would be an option until Barshim asked an official a very simple quesiton: “Can we have two golds?”
The answer was yes and the two winners had an awesome celebration.
"Can we have two golds?"
This is the best moment of the Olympics. Barshim and Tamberi were tied after both clearing 2.37 meters and missing 3 times at 2.39.
They were offered a jump-off to decide the winner.
They decline so that they both could win Gold. pic.twitter.com/XYe5ZmWlEA
— Steve Magness (@stevemagness) August 1, 2021
USA TODAY Sports’ Tom Schad is in Japan covering the Olympics and shared this pretty awesome note about the friendship between these two men and why their decision to share the gold was so special:
So it turns out Barshim and Tamberi are bros. Met at junior meets 11 years ago. Had the same injury, and helped each other through it.
Tamberi was at Barshim’s wedding, and Barshim said he’ll be at Tamberi’s.
— Tom Schad (@Tom_Schad) August 1, 2021
Awesome.
Tom has even more on the story over at USA TODAY Sports. Make sure to read it.
What a story and what a moment for those two gold medal winners.
