Shelby McEwen faces instant 'karma' as he refuses to share gold medal at Olympics

PARIS, FRANCE: Team USA's Shelby McEwen, 28, won his first Olympic medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics in a thrilling high jump final. He had the chance to share the gold medal with Hamish Kerr of New Zealand when they were tied at 2.36 meters.

However, fans were split on Saturday, August 10, when American high jumper McEwen decided not to share the gold medal with Kerr of New Zealand.

Shelby McEwen wins silver in high jump after refusing to split gold with Hamish Kerr

Following their respective 2.36-meter clearings, USA's Shelby McEwen and New Zealander Hamish Kerr advanced to a gold-winning jump-off, refusing to share the top podium position.

Eventually, McEwen failed to cross the finish line and Kerr succeeded at 2.34 meters, or 7 feet, 8 inches, to win gold for New Zealand.

It was the Pacific nation's ninth gold medal from the Paris Games and their first-ever medal in the high jump, per the New York Post.

Moreover, McEwen was not the only one who wanted the lead. Although Kerr acknowledged that they both nodded to the decision of a jump-off, fans haven't let go of McEwen's half of the bargain after the American won silver.

According to Daily Mail, the two guys missed in regulation and the jump-off 11 times in a row, so many that there wasn't enough place on the scoreboard for all the Xs.

During the jump-off, the bar was lowered twice before Kerr eventually ended his run of poor jumps by winning the gold with a height of over 2.34 meters.

"To do it the way I did it was just amazing. It was crazy," Kerr remarked. McEwen and Kerr both cleared 2.36 (7 feet, 8.75 inches), leaving McEwen with the silver.

China topped the United States 39 to 38 in gold medals heading into the last day of the Olympics. The two superpowers would be tied for gold if McEwen accepted a tie.

Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi faced similar situation in 2021 Tokyo Olympics

A similar situation occurred in Tokyo three years ago between Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy, but the two decided to share gold instead of a jump-off.

But in an interview with Agence France-Presse earlier, Barshim described it as a "one-time thing" because it is unusual for the Olympics.

Barshim, who won bronze in Paris, told AFP in April, "To be honest, it will never happen again."

"That moment, we’ll never share that again. It was a one-time thing. Coming back from injuries and a dark place, I wanted to do something different, something with a different meaning," Barshim added.

Barshim did not qualify to participate in the jump-off, but his prediction was finally shown to be accurate on Saturday. Rather, Kerr was the one who jumped for gold.

Olympic fans reacts after Shelby McEwen refused to share gold medal with competitor

Social media users took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their divided opinions over McEwen's decision not to share gold with New Zealand's Hamish Kerr.

One user wrote, "MDeadlocked at the end of all their regular jumps, New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr requested that he and USA’s Shelby McEwen share the gold medal, which would have been a great story for both. McEwen said nah, and so it went to a jump-off for the gold. NZ’s Kerr took it. Beautiful"

Another wrote in part, "Kerr won and kept the gold medal while @ShelbySm5 lost his. Karma strikes once again!"

Others flocked to the comment section as one said, "Big mistake. Should have kept his mouth shut."

"Might cost the US top spot on the medal tally too," another added.

Another said, "He lost the opportunity to call himself an Olympic gold medalist. May never have this chance again."

"Shelby mcewen wtf share the gold we need it for the medal count," exclaimed another.

Several Olympian fans supported McEwen for sticking to his decision to a jump off and not sharing the gold with Kerr as one said, "I respect doing the jump off. Nothing is lamer than accepting a tie and not going for the win!!!"

A second McEwen defender said, "That’s sport. That’s competition. That’s awesome. Well done Shelby. Didn’t take the bitch way out. Man of honour. Bet Mr Kerr is more satisfied deep down winning it outright cos he knows he deserved it"

"Nothing wrong with McEwen's decision. A medal is not a participation trophy where everyone gets one. Winning gold means beating everyone else. Fair play to both," remarked one.

One chimed in, "A true competitor. Rather than take the easy option, he battled to the end & the better man won. That's what sport's all about."

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