How two friends decided to share Olympic gold

(Mutaz Essa Barshim, Olympic gold medalist) “So when the referee came back to us and trying to explain us like guys you’re tied now at 2.37, do you want to have a jump off, I just looked at him and said: 'Can we have two golds?'”

Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi

both won gold medals in the men's high jump in Tokyo

It was the first time since the 1912 Olympics

that a gold medal was shared in athletics

Here’s the story behind it

Locator: Doha, Qatar

(Mutaz Essa Barshim, Olympic gold medalist) "Me and Gianmarco go way back, we're really good friends and one of the main reasons that let us actually share that moment, because a couple of years back, we had a very serious injury. You know, we came from a really, really critical injury. Like our surgeons literally told, like this is the worst they'd seen. This could be career ending. It was really, really a dark place for us at time because that's what we do, we have been doing this for so long. When such things happen, it's really tough. So I know what he had to go through. He knows what I've been through. So I would hate for him to end up in the silver position because I know for him to make it from that place to be able to jump at the top of the world, and this performance, he definitely deserved gold and same thing for myself. So when the referee came up to us and trying to explain to us, like guys are tied now at 2.37 and you want to have a jump off the top, you know, one jump to decide who's going to walk home with silver, who's going to walk home with gold. I just looked at him and said, 'can we have two golds?' and he said, 'yes'. And he was right trying to continue to explain. And we didn't even listen. And I looked at Gianmarco. He looked at me and we start celebrating already. And yeah, the rest is just history."

Barshim says Paris 2024 is his next target

"Paris definitely, it's on the plan, but it will require a lot of work, you know.”