US Olympian defends refusing to share gold medal before losing as fans are split: ‘One champion’

Shout out to Hamish for coming up to me, accepting a jump off and I accepted it and I was all for it.”
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McEwen and Kerr cleared 2.36m, which sparked a jumpoff between the two Olympians for the top spot on the podium.

If two or more athletes end at the same height in the men’s high jump, they go to a jump off starting at the next height above where they cleared.

Both athletes missed at 2.38m and 2.36m before the bar was lowered to 2.34m.

They had missed 11 jumps in a row by the time Kerr made his jump at 2.34m, resulting in the “Flying Kiwi’s” first Olympic gold medal.

“I mean, hey, he got the gold and I got the silver. 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,” McEwen said.

“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.”