Tokyo Olympics: Qatar, Italy high jumpers tied at final event, decide to share gold; Watch

In a rare event that spilt moments of joy in the stadium, Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi.of Italy shared the Olympic gold medal for the men's high jump. The two rivals and best friends, who claim to be sharing lots of things outside of the Olympics games despite belonging to two different countries had no failed attempts on Monday and cleared the final jump of 2.37 meters. All three medalists had cleared the bar at 2.37 meters first, but Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus was given a bronze medal for having missed the previous attempts.

The Olympic official then offered the two athletes a final jump-off to decide the winner. This left Tamberi of Italy and Barshim of Qatar to compete against each other. The bar was raised to 2.39 meters, an Olympic official meanwhile walked up to the two rivals and friends briefing that could go to a jump-off to and determine who won the gold medal title. But the game was tied after neither of the players was able to achieve it, thrice. 

As the high jump was stuck at a stalemate, "Can we have two golds?", Barshim asked, according to news agencies. To their surprise, the official nodded a “yes”. The two athletes jumped in happiness and clapped, hugging each other with friendly gestures calling their win “ a dream come true.” "I still can't believe it happened," Tamberi told the Associated Press. "Sharing with a friend is even more beautiful, It was just magical.” Meanwhile, 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 deserved that gold.” The two players embraced each other tight and rejoiced their victory together. 

"I was in ecstasy. My heart was exploding," Tamberi told the AP. "I was just full of emotions and I just screamed at him before he got in the blocks and I just supported him. I'm the captain of the national team so I just felt to do something.”  Barshim, separately stated that Tamberi is one of his best friends “not only on the track but outside of the track.”

Furthermore, he added, that he hopes to inspire the younger generation.  "We're always together almost. True spirit, sportsmen spirit, coming here and delivering this message. [I] appreciate what he's done, he appreciates what I've done. This is amazing,” the excited player said. 

'We work together..' athletes say 

The Olympics spectators were delighted at the sportsmanship. Internet poured love and affection at the two players calling it a historic moment of joy during the Olympics 2020. Mutaz Essa Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi have been at sports events together for over 10 years. They have helped each other through injuries and tough times. "We work together. This is a dream come true," they told reporters.