SAINT-DENIS, France — A few months ago, Hamish Kerr started thinking about jump-offs. He had watched from just a few feet away as Mutaz Essa Barshim, of Qatar, and Gianmarco Tamberi, of Italy, decided to share gold in the men’s high jump at the Tokyo Olympics rather than continuing to compete, and Kerr thought it was “such a special moment for the sport,” he said. But earlier this year, a fellow member of Team New Zealand asked him what he would do in their spot. And Kerr realized he would want a different sort of moment.
“I think adding to the history of the sport in a different way than what’s already been done, that’s quite cool,” Kerr said on Saturday, shortly after getting that very chance. “I think that for me, I would have been so proud coming second in a jump-off—probably prouder than sharing the gold medal, knowing that it already happened.”
