Image: APA/AFP/KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV
Gianmarco Tamberi was already an Olympic champion and European champion. After the Italian high jumper jumped 2.36 meters at the World Championships final in Budapest on Tuesday evening, his first world championship title could not be taken away from him.
But just as the 31-year-old is about to set his personal best to 2.40 meters, a little boy hijacks the high jump mat. He obviously enjoys letting himself fall into the soft ground over and over again. To the delight of the audience:
Tamberi could be upset that his concentration is disturbed, but he doesn’t – on the contrary.
Tamberi knows the boy, it is the son of the dethroned Mutaz Essa Barshim, with whom Tamberi has been friends since their ex aequo Olympic victory in Tokyo at the latest. Somehow the dethroned defending champion managed to smuggle his son into the interior of the stadium during the decider. The next moment it doesn’t seem to matter how he did it, they celebrate together and pose for photos.
“I’m happy that Tamberi won,” says Barshim, who went home with bronze after world titles in 2017, 2019 and 2022. “Having my son here makes it even more memorable,” added the 29-year-old.
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I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
