The High Jump Final at the Tokyo Olympics this year was one for the ages. With the finest High Jumpers on show , the Final was keenly contested and eventually it boiled down to a deadlock between Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy .
Mutaz Barshim , considered to be the finest High Jumper in the world , had won everything possible in the High Jump competition except an Olympic Gold and Gianmarco Tamberi the challenger to be said , had come out of a serious injury a few years back and was desperately looking for a medal . Eventually , to break the deadlock , between the two good friends and decide the winner , a Jump Off ( a tie breaker ) , was the only solution.
However , Barshim asked the officials , if there could be two gold medals , the official agreed and before he could even finish explaining , Tamberi was all over Barshim . He had jumped on Barshim and taken him into an everlasting embrace . Both Tamberi and Barshim were in tears . Tamberi was running around the stadium , he fell on his back and rolled over time and time again to celebrate the occasion. It was truly an emotional moment. A rare incident , something unprecedented had happened , where a Gold medal was shared by athletes of different countries. What transpired between Tamberi and Barshim was hailed as the ‘ Moment ‘ of the Olympic Games.
Most of the world knows this story and therefore the objective of this blog is not to repeat what has already been reported at various fora , but its about the learnings we can extract from this Barshim-Tamberi event. This occurrence is not about sport alone, its not even about great sportsmanship also , its about humanity and for its greater good. Barshim and Tamberi come from completely diverse backgrounds when you consider their nationalities, religion, colour , creed etc. , but still they have come together and showed the world what is mutual love and respect between two human beings .
In today’s times , this event must be regarded as a symbol of peace and co-existence , a symbol of sharing and brotherhood and a symbol of love and compassion, leading to a much happier human race . Hats off to Barshim and Tamberi , they have shown the world , the way forward.
Long Live their Friendship