The US high jumper refused to share the gold medal and regretfully won the silver medal

In the men's high jump final of the Paris Olympics held on August 10, 2024, a similar scene to the Tokyo Olympics three years ago occurred. Both the US athlete Shelby McEwen and the New Zealand athlete Hamish Kerr failed to clear 2.38 meters in three attempts and succeeded in their first attempt at 2.36 meters. According to the rules, both could win a gold medal, but they chose to have a playoff to determine the winner. However, in the end, the gold medal was won by Kerr, and McEwen regretfully won the silver medal.

The media have different accounts of who refused to share the gold medal. US media said that it was Kerr who chose to refuse and eventually won the championship in the playoff, while the US athlete McEwen won the silver medal. New Zealand media said that it was McEwen who refused to share the gold medal and insisted on the playoff, eventually losing the game. However, it was reported that McEwen said after the game that it was Kerr who first proposed the playoff and he just agreed to the suggestion.

After the playoff between McEwen and Kerr, the US team lost a gold medal that could have determined the ranking on the gold medal list. McEwen's loss of this gold medal placed the US in second place on the gold medal list, which also frustrated many Americans, who accused McEwen of being "arrogant" and carelessly losing the gold medal.

Judging McEwen's behavior as "arrogant" is unfair from the perspective of the competition rules and the situation the athletes were in at that time. In the Tokyo Olympics, Barshim and Tamberi had exactly the same results from 2.24 meters to 2.37 meters, and sharing the gold medal was very fair. But this time, although Kerr and McEwen had the same result at 2.36 meters, at 2.34 meters, the former succeeded in the first attempt while the latter only cleared the bar successfully in the third attempt. Sharing the gold medal would be more like "scoring a lucky goal" within the rules, and for the athletes, the victory would not be so thorough.

Moreover, McEwen said in a post-game interview that it was his opponent Kerr who first proposed the playoff and he just agreed to the suggestion. "To some extent, I was a little tired. I definitely wanted to share the gold medal with him. But I still agreed." He also admitted that he needed the Olympic bonus to support his family. That is to say, even though he clearly knew that he was likely to lose to his opponent and could have made a more stable, safe and in line with his personal interests choice, he still decided to respect his opponent, respect the competition and challenge to the end, which reflects the Olympic spirit of "Faster, Higher, Stronger".