American high-jumper Shelby McEwen has defended his decision to turn down a shared Olympic gold medal after eventually being forced to settle for silver in Paris.
After both men had cleared 2.36m, McEwen divided fans online when he refused to share the gold with New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr on Saturday, an option presented to athletes when they are tied on the same score.
Instead he opted for a jump-off with Kerr, who finally got over the bar at 2.34 meters (7 feet, 8 inches) to clinch gold following 11 straight misses from the two finalists.
It was a devastating outcome for McEwen, who was left with silver after rejecting the chance to take home a shared gold with his closest competitor.
Though despite the criticism he has been subjected to, the USA star has no regrets over opting for a jump-off.
American high-jumper Shelby McEwen has defended his decision to turn down a shared Olympic gold medal
‘If it was meant to be it would’ve been,’ he told reporters at a press conference after the event. ‘Shout out to Hamish for coming up to me, accepting a jump off and I accepted it and I was all for it.’
While Kerr agreed with his call to try and win the gold outright, it is McEwen who has received most attention online after his bold move backfired.
One fan wrote on X: ‘Couldn’t understand his decision and in the end it costed (sic) him the gold.’
Others, however, agreed with McEwen’s ultimately doomed decision to go into a jump off to decide first and second place.
‘He wanted to be Olympic champion, not joint Olympic champion,’ another user added. ‘I respect it.’
And the 28-year-old stressed that Olympic events should always conclude with ‘one champion’ standing tall at the end.
McEwen added: ‘I mean, hey, he got the gold and I got the silver. At the end of the day, like he said it’s a sport. I mean I represent my country, just like he’s representing his. I’m representing my family just like he’s representing his.
McEwen lost a jump-off against New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr (right) after rejecting the chance to walk away with gold together
Despite the criticism he has received, the American stands by his call to opt for a jump-off
‘At the end of the day we all want to be champions and the only respectful thing to do is walk away with one champion.’
At the Tokyo Olympics, a similar scenario played out when Mutaz Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy went the other way and decided to accept a shared gold.
But Kerr heaped praise on McEwen for letting them make new history in Paris.
‘I have so much respect for what they did in Tokyo. But I always thought that to add to the story and to be able to be given the chance to actually do the jump-off would be so amazing,’ the Olympic champion said. ‘I knew straight away that we were going to make history and we did that.
‘I’m pretty sure Shelby was in the same mindset because we just looked at each other and it was pretty simple. We both just nodded and off we went.
‘We talked to each other, and he was like, “Let’s jump off.” And I was like, “I’m all for it.”‘
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