“I still can’t believe it happened,” Tamberi exclaimed. “Sharing with a friend is even more beautiful… It was just magical.”
When the Olympics were announced this year many of us expected disappointment. COVID-19 made having a live audience impossible. In order to protect the athletes and fans, many restrictions were put in place. That’s not to say the entire planet wasn’t planning on tuning in to watch superhuman magic performing the impossible, whether it was Simone Biles defying gravity or witnessing Kiran Badloe win gold for the Netherlands in windsurfing with his signature hairstyle – a shaved arrow, dyed bright blue as tribute to his favorite animated hero, Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
But one Olympic event stood out from the rest: the men’s high jump.
The duel between Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy appeared to be a brutal battle for the ages. Both high jumpers were evenly matched, and most fans were expecting it to be a close call for the winner.
Round after round, both finalists performed their jumps perfectly until the bar was set to the Olympic-record height of 2.39m (7 feet, 10 inches.) Both jumpers missed the bar three times, which led to the moment for tiebreaker: a jump-off.
Barshim, however, had a different idea: why not have two gold medalists?
The official had no qualms with the idea, so Barshim nodded and Tamberi slapped his hand and accepted. Tamberi, the more excitable of the two jumped into his rival’s arms before collapsing to the track out of shear exhaustion and joy.
“I still can’t believe it happened,” Tamberi exclaimed. “Sharing with a friend is even more beautiful… It was just magical.”
Bashrim, the more stoic of the two but no less enthused, pumped his fist in the air while the crowd roared.
It turns out, the two athletes had formed a bond well before the Tokyo 2021 Olympics took place.
For two individuals who were not only competitors but friends to win the gold together truly says something about the human condition.
The Olympics began 3,000 years ago as a festival honoring Zeus – God of the Sky and Thunder – it has since evolved into an international sporting event where each nation supports the most talented of their athletes to compete for the gold.
But what many of us fail to examine is that the Olympics are far more than just a sporting event. It’s a universal celebration where countries with severed ties can come together, drop their beliefs and judgements of their fellow nations, engage in friendly and peaceful competition. The Olympics has become a compelling place to promote tolerance, teamwork, cultural exploration, and religious understanding to an otherwise divided world.
The official symbol of the Olympics is the five multicolored, interlocking rings. Each ring represents a continent: Asia, Australia, Africa, North and South America, and Europe. It also represents unity and friendship.
In times of uncertainty, discrimination and misunderstanding events like this provide a glimmer of what it would be like to have world peace and the beauty of seeing people different perspectives, cultures and history sharing the honor of winning Best in The World.
If that person you share the gold with turns out to be a friend, it makes it all the better.
