Shelby McEwen stunned in Olympic men’s high jump final after historic jump-off

United States’ Shelby McEwen and New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr went to a jump-off to determine the gold medal in the men’s high jump at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Both men were halted at 2.38 meters on three seperate occasions after clearing 2.36 on their first attempts, but ultimately Kerr cleared the 7-foot, 8-inch mark to win the event. Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim was the bronze medal winner, clearing the bar with a 2.34m jump.

Once they were in the jump-off, neither men were unable to hit the 2.38m mark. The same happened at 2.36m. McEwen was unable to clear the bar when they put it down to 2.34 meters (7-foot-8), which Kerr did to walk off the gold medal event.

It was proposed that McEwen and Kerr could both obtain the gold medal after the multiple ties, but McEwen declined and the duo continued to battle it out. Instead of having a guaranteed gold medal, the Alabama alum was unable to cash in on his bet and Kerr came away with the lone gold medal.

In 2020, the men’s high jump saw Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi — who finished 11th during Saturday’s final — agreed to both take the gold medal in a situation that hadn’t happened in Track & Field since 1912. That event spanned around two hours and 30 minutes before that conclusion was made.

It is a repeat result of the men’s high jump at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships back in March.

McEwen can now return to the United States with his head held high, and while he can’t call himself an Olympic gold medalist yet — he is a first-time Olympic medal winner and at 28, a bid for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics isn’t out of the question for the former Crimson Tide star. He’ll head coach to the United States to rest up and prepare for the next even on his calendar.

He attended Alabama and participated in the indoor and outdoor track seasons in 2018 and 2019. There, he was a two-time All-American, two-time First Team All-SEC and a two-time SEC Champion.

Had the former Alabama high-jumper won the gold, it would have given the United States its 12th gold medal in Track & Field out of 25 events.

While high jump action may be through, there’s still one more day’s worth of Olympic action to take in before going on hiatus for another four years as events are set to wrap up on Aug. 11.