United States high-jumper Shelby McEwen has revealed that it was rival Hamish Kerr who proposed that the pair contest a "jumpoff" for the gold medal at the Paris Olympics - before he had to settle for silver.
The pair found themselves in the same position as Mutaz Barsham and Gianmarco Tamberi at Tokyo in 2020 - who decided to share the top prize. However, McEwen and Kerr snubbed the chance to effectively call it a tie at the 2.36 metres for the gold as they gambled on individually securing glory.
Having both cleared the 2.36, the duo then faltered three times each on the 2.38 as they then agreed to the "jumpoff" for the main honor at the Games . From there, they both missed at 2.36, while New Zealander Kerr eventually rallied to clear 2.34 to secure the gold medal, leaving some suggesting it was 'karma' for McEwen not agreeing to share.
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But despite deciding to not push to share the gold, it seems that McEwan was at peace with his decision following the contest as he recounted how things played out afterwards. Revealing the conversation that he had with Kerr, he explained: "We walked and talked to each other."
"He was like, 'Let's jumpoff.' I was like, 'I'm all for it'. He said it first, and I agreed to it." he continued, before going into detail about his physical state by this point in the contest. "At some point, I kind of got fatigued. I maybe would have shared it with him, for sure. But I agreed to it, and it was all good."
Providing some clarity on the decision to "jumpoff" for the top prize, he added: "At the end of the day, he wanted to jumpoff. At that point, I wasn't going to go back and forth with it and argue with him. He wanted to jumpoff, and I was all in for it. I came up short of the gold. But I'm still thankful for what I got."
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As for Kerr, his delight at how things panned out was palpable as he rejoiced in the aftermath of earning the gold medal in dramatic circumstances in the French capital. He said: "That was such a special moment to share as a high jump fraternity,"
"It's cool to etch our history in a different way. For me, I would have been so proud to come in second in jumpoff - probably prouder than sharing a gold medal knowing that had already happened. That was the big thing for me: Trying to add to that history in a different way."
Qatar's Barsham said of sharing the gold three years ago: "To be honest, it will never happen again. That moment, we'll never share that again. It was a one-time thing. Coming back from injuries and a dark place, I wanted to do something different, something with a different meaning."
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