New Zealand's Hamish Kerr won gold in the men's Olympic high jump on Aug 10 by beating American Shelby McEwen in a jump-off in contrast to the last Games when the gold was shared.
Both men cleared 2.36m in regular progression, but could not be separated on countback and Kerr secured his country's first medal in the event by making 2.34m after a long and gruelling competition.
Defending champion Mutaz Barshim of Qatar - who famously shared the gold with Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi in Tokyo - got the bronze with a season's best 2.34m.
Kerr and McEwen cleared 2.36m at the first attempt but both had three failures at 2.38m.
In the jump-off, they both failed with their single attempt at 2.38m and 2.36m, before Kerr cleared 2.34m.
"I was just in shock. Both me and Shelby were getting a little bit tired after all the jumps we took," the 27year-old said.
"I knew I had a good one in me, and I knew that if I could get it up sooner rather than later, then I could just finish the competition and start recovering." Kerr said the choice to do the jump-off this time was in part to satisfy those who had wanted Barshim and Tamberi to fight to the bitter end in Tokyo.
"We're both really happy to add to that history," he said.
This story is from the August 12, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the August 12, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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