USA high-jumper Shelby McEwen breaks silence after refusing to share Olympic gold medal with rival that ended up costing him
US high-jumper Shelby McEwen has defended his decision to turn down a shared Olympic gold medal.
McEwen, who eventually had to to settle for silver in Paris, has drawn criticism for his seemingly arrogant nature.
Forced to compete with New Zealand's Hamish Kerr in a jump-off, the latter cleared 2.34 meters, pipping the 28-year-old to win gold in the process.
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McEwen's rejection of the opportunity to win a joint gold with his nearest rival resulted in a bitter conclusion for him, as he was left with silver.
The American star has accepted the criticism he has received and has no remorse about opting for a head-to-head jump-off.
"If it was meant to be it would’ve been," he told reporters at a press conference after the event.
"Shout out to Hamish for coming up to me, accepting a jump off and I accepted it and I was all for it."
Kerr, who also agreed with the decision to not share a gold, hasn't received as much backlash as McEwen.
"I mean, hey, he got the gold and I got the silver," added the Team USA athlete.
"At the end of the day, like he said it’s a sport. I mean I represent my country, just like he’s representing his.
"I’m representing my family just like he’s representing his.
"At the end of the day we all want to be champions and the only respectful thing to do is walk away with one champion."
A similar scenario also played out at the Tokyo games in 2021, as Mutaz Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy decided to share a gold in the same event.
Kerr reflected on the decision made and heaped praise on the American for wanting to make history of their own accord.
"I have so much respect for what they did in Tokyo," said the gold medal winner.
"But I always thought that to add to the story and to be able to be given the chance to actually do the jump-off would be so amazing.
"I knew straight away that we were going to make history and we did that.
"I'm pretty sure Shelby was in the same mindset because we just looked at each other and it was pretty simple.
"We both just nodded and off we went.
"We talked to each other, and he was like, "Let's jump off."
"And I was like, "I'm all for it."'
Matthew Holt