Olympia 2021: Why double gold in the high jump wasn’t such a big moment

opinion

“Let’s make history,” said Mutaz Essa Barshim to Gianmarco Tamberi – and they have actually made history: For the first time there are two winners in the high jump at the Olympic Games. The world champion from Qatar and his Italian competitor both made the 2.37 meters and then tore the height of 2.39 meters three times. Instead of determining the winner in the jump-off, they shared the gold medal according to Barshim’s suggestion.

The scenes that followed were emotional and moving: Both fell into each other’s arms, especially Tamberi could hardly believe his luck and lay overwhelmed for minutes on the tartan track in the National Stadium in Tokyo. Great pictures, a great Olympic moment that thrilled many viewers all over the world. Barshim and Tamberi quickly became figureheads of the Olympic spirit, whose image had previously suffered a bit at the pandemic games – but is it really that simple? On closer inspection, you can at least see the double gold with an aftertaste.

Olympia 2021: Double gold in high jump a win-win situation

Seen soberly, the two high jumpers simply opted for the safest of two options. Had they got involved in a jump-off, as is actually normal, there would inevitably have been a winner and a loser – this is a completely normal process in sport. Instead, the athletes decided to just take both gold. A classic win-win situation. In this situation, who would not have taken the safe gold instead of the risk of “only” ending up with silver?

It is difficult to judge from the outside whether Barshim and Tamberi had such thoughts in their heads at the decisive moment. Both are apparently close friends, they both have histories of serious injuries and have had a difficult journey to Tokyo. To be able to celebrate together now has a very special meaning for her. But whether the shared gold is actually such a great sporting moment, as was often emphasized immediately after the competition, one must at least be allowed to question.

Silver would have been a success too

After all, the essence of sport consists in the fact that victory is fought to the very end, that there are winners and losers. It would be more worthwhile to think about not directly dismissing everyone who is not at the top of the podium as a loser. A silver or bronze medal can also be a grandiose success – and it is for most athletes too. Even just taking part in the Olympic Games is in many cases a great achievement, true to the traditional motto “Being there is everything”.

However, this has long ceased to apply in many sports. The German beach volleyball player Karla Borger said: “In the end, in most cases it will be ‘disappointment’, ‘lost’, ‘defeat’. The many victories, the achievements, the hardships, all the difficulties before, they see least.” Her conclusion: “Olympics is not fun like that.”

But if the example of the high jump catches on, very different, curious medal decisions will soon be possible. In golf, for example, seven golfers were in third place after the last round, who then determined the medal winner in the jump-off. Seven bronze medals – that would have been complicated.