Gold medalists Mutaz Barshim, left, of Qatar, and Gianmarco Tamberi, of Italy, who tied Barshim for gold, celebrate on the track after the final of the men's high jump at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (Christian Petersen/Pool Photo via AP)
By Pat Graham
The Italian high jumper leaped into his rival's arms, then belly-flopped onto the hard track, rolled around a few times and screamed.
Gianmarco Tamberi was just getting warmed up, too.
It's not every day you tie your good friend for gold.
Tamberi and Mutaz Barshim of Qatar agreed to the tie Sunday at the Tokyo Games in a competition settled not by clearing the top height but through a subtle nod.
Edge definitely to Tamberi, though, for the degree of difficulty in celebrations. That's not even counting all the hugs and kisses he delivered — or all of the people he jumped into the arms of.
He was just that excited. This was that crazy of an ending.
“I still can’t believe it happened,” Tamberi said. “Sharing with a friend is even more beautiful. ... It was just magical."
In a huddle with track officials, the athletes were given the option to settle the tie with a jump-off.
Barshim had a better idea: How about two golds?
The official said that was possible.
Barshim nodded and Tamberi instantly accepted, slapping Barshim's hand and jumping into his arms. It would be far from his last celebration.
“For me, coming here, I know for a fact that for the performance I did, I deserve that gold," Barshim said. "He did the same thing, so I know he deserved that gold.”
It stressed sportsmanship, too — or so they hope. It also adds to Barshim's Olympic medal collection, pairing nicely with silver in Rio and another medal at the 2012 London Games.
“This is beyond sport,” Barshim said. “This is the message we deliver to the young generation.”
Both high jumpers were perfect until the bar was set to the Olympic-record height of 2.39 meters (7 feet, 10 inches). Each missed three times.
Funny, they actually talked about this sort of situation before. Not in great detail, though.
"We just said, ‘Imagine,’” Barshim recalled. “Today, it happened.”
When Italian sprinter Marcell Jacobs surprisingly won the 100 meters a few minutes later, there was Tamberi to greet him. Not so much as greet him as celebrate by jumping into the sprinter’s arms and curling his own arm around Jacobs’ bald head.
“I was in ecstasy. My heart was exploding,” Tamberi said. “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.”
Tamberi has kept a cast for five years — a reminder of his broken ankle just before Rio. He was in his best shape, too, which forced him to watch the Rio Games. When it came off, he wrote on it “Road to Tokyo 2020.” Then, he crossed out 2020 after the pandemic led to a postponement and wrote in red, "2021."
“I said to myself that day, ‘I want to be back in Tokyo and I want to fight for the gold medal,’” Tamberi said.
They appeared to have all sorts of fun during a competition in which Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus earned bronze. Tamberi launched an imaginary jump shot after clearing a height.
Swish.
Barshim was the epitome of cool in shades that kept falling off after his jumps. One time, he even swatted them away after a successful leap.
They broke.
“I've got 50 pairs,” Barshim said.
Now, one gold.
Another for his buddy, too.
“He’s one of my best friends. Not only on the track but outside of the track,” Barshim said. “We’re always together almost. True spirit, sportsmen spirit, coming here and delivering this message.
"Appreciate what he's done, he appreciates what I’ve done. This is amazing.”
Alex Silverman, senior reporter covering the business of sports at Morning Consult, joins Cheddar News to discuss why the number of those betting on sports doubled in 2021 and what's next for the industry in 2022.
If you have not placed your buffalo wings order yet, hurry up. The biggest weekend in NFL playoff history kicks off in just under 48 hours with six games being played over three days. Sports Analyst at Yahoo Sports Pamela Maldonado joined Cheddar to give us a preview ahead of the Super Wild Card Weekend.
With the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing rapidly approaching, clouds of controversy continue to swirl around China's treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority population, its surveillance state, and security for visiting athletes. Phelim Kine, China correspondent for Politico, joined Cheddar to break down the big storylines surrounding the Beijing Games and highlight what he saw as the complete disregard by top corporate sponsors like P&G, Airbnb, Intel, Visa, and Coca-Cola, for the controversies. "They spend $100 million for every Olympics that they sponsor, and they have frankly shown absolute willful indifference to any type of entreaty to essentially be more vocal about their concerns about human rights in China," he said. Kine also touched on the data privacy fears for athletes as visiting contingents are being told to carry burner phones to avoid security risks.
NFL games continue to be among some of the highest-rated programs on television. In 2021, viewership jumped 10 percent from the previous year to an average of 17.1 million as the league debuted its first 18-week season after running on a 16-week schedule since 1978. Fans — and team owners — welcomed the change with open arms, but a vocal percentage of players were not as ecstatic (despite the union signing off). Those who were against adding games cited health and safety concerns as their main reason. While the extended season means fatter pockets for the league, the opposition asks: is it worth the risk? Cheddar's JD Durkin breaks it all down.
With the Australian Open set to begin on Monday, Novak Djokovic is once again being threatened with deportation from Australia after his visa was briefly reinstated and revoked again over alleged discrepancies. Djokovic’s team will sit for an Immigration hearing on Saturday.
Decorated skier Lindsey Vonn did not hold back when touching on mental health in "Rise," her new memoir. "My mental health is definitely part of my story," she said. "Now I'm just thankful that this conversation is so much more talked about — Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, Kevin Love, Michael Phelps, all have been outspoken about it." She noted that she felt happy that readers, particularly kids, get to see a vulnerable side to her in the book. The gold medalist also went on to note what she's most looking forward to watching in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
It was 'game on' for sports bettors in the state of New York, as mobile betting kicked off on four major betting operating platforms Saturday. This comes at an exciting time for sports fans with some of the biggest NFL games of the season right around the corner. Cam Rogers - Host of Lock It In with Cam Rogers, Betting Analyst at the Bleav Podcast Network joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Former wide receiver for the New York Giants, Victor Cruz has partnered with Krystal Restaurants, a popular burger chain in the South, to bring the franchise to his home state of New Jersey. Cruz and Alice Crowder, CMO of Krystal Restaurants, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the venture. The five new locations will be known as "Victor Cruz's Krystal," decked out with memorabilia from his football career, with the former player explaining how "hands-on" he plans on being. "You never know, OK? You might walk in and Victor Cruz will be flipping a burger back there, and you might be getting it directly from the source," he said.
Max Bichsel, vice president at Gambling.com Group joins Cheddar News to talk about the growing sports betting industry, New York legalizing mobile betting, and 2022 predictions for the sector.
