A post is being shared on social media claiming that Qatar high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim had agreed to share the men’s high jump gold medal considering his opponent Tamberi’s serious leg injury. This post claims that Italian high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi was severely injured during the ‘Tokyo Olympics 2020’. For context, Tamberi and Barshim have mutually agreed to share the men’s high jump gold medal in Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Qatar’s Barshim decided to share the men’s high jump gold medal with Italy’s Tamberi in Tokyo Olympics after Tamberi withdrew from the last attempt due to a serious leg injury.
Fact: While it is true that Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi have mutually agreed to share the men’s high jump Olympic gold medal, it is not true that Tamberi withdrew from his last attempt due to a serious leg injury. As both Tamberi and Barshim have failed to clear the 2.39m mark in their last three attempts, they decided to share the gold medal rather than taking part in a jump-off. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When we searched to find the details of the claim made in the post, we found several news articles that reported this rare moment of two high jumpers sharing an Olympic gold medal. They can be read here and here. According to these articles, both Barshim and Tamberi have amicably decided to share the men’s high jump Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 games. While interacting in a post-match press conference, Qatar high jumper Barshim had revealed the reasons behind his decision to share the gold medal with Italian high jumper Tamberi. Barshim said, “For me, coming here, I know for a fact that for the performance I did, I deserve that gold. He did the same thing. So, I know he deserves that Gold.”.
Barshim and Tamberi were locked in first place after an exhausting two-hour men’s high jump competition on 01 August 2021. Both players had recorded best clearances of 2.37 metres. The athletes were offered an opportunity to take part in a jump-off after both had three failures in clearing the Olympic record of 2.39 meter mark. But, Barshim and Tamberi had agreed to share the men’s high jump gold medal rather than taking part in a jump-off. The complete information on choosing a winner in the High Jump competition can be found on the ‘World Athletics’ website.
In 2016, Italian high jumper Tamberi had suffered a ligament tear in his left ankle. Because of this injury, Tamberi had not participated in the Rio Olympic games. After this injury, Tamberi was sidelined from the High Jump competition for 11 months. In July 2018, Barshim too had suffered an ankle ligament injury while attempting to break the world record of 2.46 m. Both faced serious injuries before the ‘Tokyo 2020’ games. It is nowhere reported that Italian high jumper Tamberi was injured during the Tokyo Olympic Games.
To sum it up, Tamberi was not injured when he shared the gold medal with Barshim in the men’s high jump at Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
