First they put the bar up higher. Then they lowered it.
Wherever they put the bar, American Shelby McEwen and world indoor champion Hamish Kerr of New Zealand couldn’t clear it. The two high jumpers, who could have decided to tie and both get a gold medal, instead put fans through an interminable jump-off for the gold at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.
The two men had 11 straight misses — so many that there wasn’t enough room on the scoreboard for all the Xs — in regulation and the jump-off. The bar was lowered twice during the jump-off, and Kerr finally broke the streak of failures when he got over 2.34 meters (7 feet, 8 inches) to take the gold.
“To do it the way I did it was just amazing,” Kerr said. “It was crazy.”
McEwen was left with the silver, both he and Kerr having cleared 2.36 (7 feet, 8.75 inches).
Going into the Olympics final day, China led the U.S. in gold medals 39 to 38. If McEwen accepted a tie for gold, the two superpowers would be even.
At the Tokyo Olympics, a similar scenario played out and Mutaz Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy decided to accept the tie.
Barshim took the bronze Saturday at 2.34. Tamberi was eliminated early on.
“I have so much respect for what they did in Tokyo. But I always…
