What happened in high jump final between Shelby McEwen and Hamish Kerr at Paris Olympics? All about the thrilling jump off

USA's Shelby McEwen secured his first Olympic medal at the age of 28 at the Paris Olympics 2024 in an epic high jump final. He and New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr were tied at the 2.36m mark and had the opportunity to share the gold medal, which they didn't.

The high jump final started with a height of 2.17m. Every jumper cleared the height on the first attempt but as the height kept rising, the number of jumpers in contention for the gold kept decreasing until only three remained at 2.34m. Defending champion Motaz Barshim didn't go higher than 2.34m, leaving Shelby McEwen and Hamish Kerr to battle for gold.

Both cleared the 2.36m mark in their first attempts before failing thrice on the 2.38m height. The final was tied with the jumpers having a chance to share the gold medal or go for a jump off.

It was a familiar incident for track and field fans with Barshim and Gianmarco Timberi finding themselves in a similar situation three years back at the Tokyo Olympics. While they chose to share the gold medal at 2.37m, Shelby McEwen said he wanted to go for the jump-off.

The American jumped first for 2.38m. He nearly cleared it with Kerr also failing in his first attempt. The bar was lowered to 2.36m, and McEwen went first again. He didn't clear, and moments later the New Zealand Jumper did so easily. Although the American’s brave move didn't pay off, he was beaming over his silver medal.

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Shelby McEwen was a basketball player at the start of his collegiate career

World Athletics Championships. Budapest 2023. - Source: Getty

Shelby McEwen's jumping potential came to the fore in a ‘First to Fly’ dunking contest, an event organized by Jordan Brand. He won the 2014 edition of the event. A year later, he joined Northwest Mississippi Community College's basketball team.

McEwen’s career didn't pan out as planned, and he eventually called it off in 2017. However, he had been harbouring a love for the high jump on the sidelines, and following the end of his basketball career, he turned to be a full-time high jumper.

Shelby McEwen competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but finished 12th with a jump of 2.27m. He witnessed Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Timberi share the gold. McEwen saw himself in a similar situation three years later but history didn't repeat itself. McEwen went for gold, and won a heroic silver.