The two athletes sharing the Olympic gold medal in a near-empty Tokyo Stadium captured the imagination of expectant spectators around the world, which at the time was ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic.
Mutaz Eza Barshim hugged his old friend Gianmarco Tamberi at the end of the men's high jump as the judges confirmed the gold medals for both the Qatari and Italian. The two had known each other for many years since their childhood.
“To be honest, something like this will never happen again,” Barsim told AFP in an interview.
“In that moment, we'll never share it again. It was a one-time thing. Coming back from an injury and a dark place, I wanted something different, something that had a different meaning. I wanted to.
“I'm glad it touched so many people's hearts, but we're athletes, we're professionals, and we always want to be the best. 'I want to beat you, you can beat me.' I have a passion for it.”
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Barsim said he felt “lucky” to share the gold medal with Tamberi.
“We have been competing since 2010 and reached the professional level together,” he explained.
“As professional athletes, we deal with a lot of things. There's one thing that's the biggest and that's injuries. In 2018 I injured my left Achilles tendon, damaged both ligaments, and mentally It was a very dark time, both physically and mentally.
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“One moment you're in great shape, and a few seconds later you're being dragged out of the operating room in a wheelchair.
“My friend Gianmarco suffered a similar injury in 2016 just before the Rio Olympics and was unable to participate in the Rio Olympics.
“In Tokyo, when the bar was 2.37 meters and me and him cleared it on the first attempt, I looked back and there was no one left. It was emotional, so it was a draw.
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“I asked, 'Can I share?' The answer was, 'Yes, it is possible,' and that was that. We didn't discuss anything. I asked Gianmarco's I looked in his eyes, he looked at me too, we jumped up and down, hugged, and the rest was over.'' That's history, and it's one of those moments that will stay forever. ”
Barsim joked that World Athletics plans to give all competition winners $50,000 (46,000 euros) in prize money, but there is no guarantee that they will share any more gold medals.
“That's not happening. You can't share it with 50 people or 500 people!” said the 32-year-old, who boasts three outdoor world titles.
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“Anything that comes in the form of an award is good for the athletes and motivates them. These athletes are really trying hard and making sacrifices and this kind of award is very important. is.
“The prize money in track and field cannot be compared to, say, football or basketball.
“Good start. We've got to start somewhere.”
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Barshim started his outdoor season with a second place finish at last week's Xiamen Diamond League tournament and will be in China for a one-day Elite Circuit Suzhou on Saturday before returning to Doha for his next match on May 10. is.
“I want to take a little break and then peak at the Olympics,” Barsim said, adding that he was looking forward to fans returning to the quadrennial sports festival after the coronavirus pandemic in Tokyo.
“It's great in terms of having the Olympics again with fans. I love the adrenaline. When the spectators come back, you hear the applause and the shouts and it feels like a battle,” he said. Told.
“We couldn't do it in Tokyo because of the coronavirus, but it had already been postponed for a year, so somehow we felt ready. There was a lot going on, but it finally happened. “When we were like kids going to Disneyland, that never happened.” There's no need for fans to feel the hype. ”
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