Olympic high jumper defends decision to refuse sharing gold medal moments before losing

Achieving gold is a huge moment for Olympic athletes, but having to share the win isn't exactly ideal.

Team USA's Shelby McEwen experienced this first hand and he went on to decline the offer to share gold with New Zealand high jumper Hamish Kerr.

Both athletes cleared 2.36m, but failed to achieve 2.38m when the pole was raised.

And instead of sharing gold, McEwen and Kerr proceeded to have a jump off.

Kerr went on to prove victorious when he cleared 2.34m after both athletes had missed 11 jumps in a row, meaning McEwen won silver for the US.

While his decision landed him in second place, McEwen doesn't regret not sharing first place with Kerr.

Speaking at a press conference after the event, McEwen told reporters: "If it was meant to be it would’ve been."

The Olympian continued: "Shout out to Hamish for coming up to me, accepting a jump off and I accepted it and I was all for it."

The 28-year-old went on to say that having a jump off was the 'respectful thing to do'.

McEwen said: "I represent my country, just like he’s representing his. I’m representing my family just like he’s representing his. At the end of the day we all want to be champions and the only respectful thing to do is walk away with one champion."

Shelby McEwen won silver in the men's high jump. (Alvaro Diaz/Europa Press via Getty Images)

According to Kerr it was his American competitor who suggested the jump off.

"He said it first, and I agreed to it," the New Zealand athlete told the Washington Post. "At some point, I kind of got fatigued. I maybe would have shared it with him, for sure. But I agreed to it, and it was all good."

Noting the 11 failed jumps in the jump off before he cleared 2.34m, Kerr went on to joke: "If I hadn’t cleared that jump or one very soon, we’d probably still be out there."

At one point there wasn't an option to share gold and high jumpers like Kerr and McEwen would have had to continue until there was a clear winner.

But in 2009, a new Olympics rule was introduced where the jump off was made optional, which meant that athletes could share the top spot if it was mutually agreed upon.

Both Shelby McEwen and Hamish Kerr agreed on the jump off. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

This rule was enforced at Tokyo 2020, when Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi opted to share the gold medal at the men's high jump event in a history-making moment.

Team USA's medal count - 126

Gold medalists - 40

• Lee Kiefer: Fencing - Women's individual foil
• Torri Huske: Swimming - Women's 100m butterfly
• Jack Alexj, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong, Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Held, Matt King: Swimming - Men's 4x100m freestyle
• Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, Hezly Rivera: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's team competition
• Katie Ledecky: Swimming - Women's 1500m freestyle
• Nick Mead, Justin Best, Michael Grady and Liam Corrigan: Rowing - Men's coxless four
• Jacqueline Dubrovich, Lee Kiefer, Lauren Scruggs, Maia Mei Weintraub - Fencing: Women's foil team
• Simone Biles: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's individual all-around
• Kate Douglass: Swimming - Women's 200m breaststroke
• Simone Biles: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's vault
• Vincent Hancock: Shooting - Men's skeet
• Ryan Crouser: Athletics - Men's shot put
• Katie Ledecky: Swimming - Women's 800m freestyle
• Nic Fink, Torri Huske, Ryan Murphy, Gretchen Walsh: Swimming - Mixed 4x100m medley relay
• Bobby Finke: Swimming - Men's 1500m freestyle
• Kristen Faulkner: Cycling - Women's road race
• Scottie Scheffler: Golf - Men's individual stroke play
• Noah Lyles: Athletics - Men's 100m
• Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske: Swimming - Women's 4x100m medley relay
• Valarie Allman: Athletics - Women's discus throw
• Caroline Marks: Surfing - Women's Shortboard
• Cole Hocker: Athletics - Men's 1500m
• Gabby Thomas: Athletics - Women's 200m
• Amit Elor: Wrestling - Women's freestyle 68kg
• Chloe Dygert, Kristen Faulkner, Jennifer Valente, Lily Williams: Track Cycling - Women's team pursuit
• Sarah Ann Hildebrandt: Wrestling - Women freestyle's 50kg
• Quincy Hall: Athletics - Men's 400m
• Tara Davis-Woodhall: Athletics - Women's long jump
• Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone: Athletics - Women's 400m hurdles
• Grant Holloway: Athletics - Men's 110m hurdles
• Sha'Carri Richardson, Gabby Thomas, Melissa Jefferson, Twanisha Terry: Athletics - Women's 4x100m relay
• Olivia Reeves: Weightlifting - Women's 71kg
• Rai Benjamin: Athletics - Men's 400m hurdles
• Casey Murphy, Alyssa Naeher, Tirena Davidson, Emily Fox, Naomi Girma, Casey Krueger, Jenna Nighswonger, Emily Sonnett, Korbin Albert, Sam Coffey, Lindsey Horan, Rose Lavelle, Crystal Dunn, Trinity Rodman, Jaedyn Shaw, Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson, Lynn Williams: Soccer - Women's
• Masai Russell: Athletics - Women's 100m hurdles
• Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon, Rai Benjamin: Athletics - Men's 4x400m relay
• Shamier Little, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas, Alexis Holmes: Athletics - Women's 4x400m relay
• Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Anthony Edwards, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Haliburton, Jrue Holiday, LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Derrick White: Basketball - Men's
• Jennifer Valente: Track cycling - Women's omnium
• Napheesa Collier, Kahleah Copper, Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Sabrina Ionescu, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Breanna Stewart,Diana Taurasi, Alyssa Thomas, A'ja Wilson, Jackie Young - Basketball - Women

Silver medalists - 44

• Nic Fink: Swimming - Men's 100m breaststroke
• Lauren Scruggs: Fencing - Women's individual foil
• Gretchen Walsh: Swimming - Women's 100m butterfly
• Haley Batten: Mountain Bike - Women's cross country
• Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh. Torri Huske, Simone Manuel, Erika Connolly, Abbey Weitzel: Swimming - Women's 4x100m freestyle
• Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook: Diving - Women's springboard 3m synchronised
• Katie Grimes: Swimming - Women's 400m individual medley
• Jagger Eaton: Skateboarding - Men's street
• Regan Smith: Swimming - Women's 100m backstroke
• Bobby Finke: Swimming - Men's 800m freestyle
• Carson Foster, Brooks Curry, Chris Guiliano, Luke Hobson, Drew Kibler, Blake Pieroni, Kieran Smith: Swimming - Men, 4x200m freestyle
• Perris Benegas: Cycling - Women's BMX freestyle
• Torri Huske: Swimming - Women's 100m freestyle
• Regan Smith: Swimming - Women's 200m butterfly
• Erin Gemell, Katie Ledecky, Paige Madden, Simone Manuel, Anna Peplowski, Alex Shackell, Claire Weinstein: Swimming - Women's 4x200m freestyle
• Karl Cook, Laura Kraut, McLain Ward: Equestrian - Jumping team
• Sagen Maddalena: Shooting - Women, 50m rifle 3 positions
• Regan Smith: Swimming - Women's 200m backstroke
• Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram: Tennis - Men's doubles
• Conner Prince: Shooting - Men's skeet
• Joe Kovacs: Athletics - Men's shot put
• Kaylyn Brown, Bryce Deadmon, Shamier Little, Vernon Norwood: Athletics - 4x400m relay mixed
• Sha'Carri Richardson: Athletics - Women's 100m
• Kate Douglass: Swimming - Women's 200m individual medley
• Brady Ellison: Archery: Men's individual
• Hunter Armstrong, Caeleb Dressel, Nic Fink, Ryan Murphy: Swimming - Men's 4x100m medley relay
• Seth Rider, Taylor Spivey, Morgan Pearson and Taylor Knibb: Triathlon - Mixed relay
• Simone Biles: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's floor exercise
• Sam Kendricks: Athletics - Men's pole vault
• Vincent Hancock and Jewell Austen Smith: Shooting - Mixed team skeet
• Annette Nneka Echikunwoke: Athletics - Women's hammer throw
• Tom Schaar: Skateboarding - Men's skateboarding park
• Anita Alvarez, Jaime Czarkowski, Megumi Field, Keana Hunter, Audrey Kwon, Caista Liu, Jacklyn Luu, Daniella Ramirez, Ruby Remati: Artistic swimming - Team
• Katie Moon: Athletics - Women's pole vault
• Kenneth Rooks: Athletics - Men's 3000m steeplechase
• Anna Cockrell: Athletics - Women's 400m hurdles
• Daniel Roberts: Athletics - Men's 110m hurdles
• Kenneth Bednarek: Athletics - Men's 200m
• Spencer Richard Lee: Wrestling - Men's
• Brooke Raboutou: Sport climbing - Women's bouldering and lead
• Nevin Harrison: Canoeing - Women's canoe single 200m
• Shelby McEwen: Athletics - Men's high jump
• Kennedy Blades: Wrestling - Women's freestyle, 76kg
• Lauren Carlini, Andrea Drews, Micha Hancock, Jordan Larson, Chiaka Ogbogu, Kathryn Plummer, Jordyn Poulter, Dana Rettke, Kelsey Robinson, Avery Skinner, Jordan Thompson, Haleigh Washington, Justine Wong-Orantes - Volleyball - Women

Bronze medalists - 42

• Carson Foster: Swimming - Men's 400m individual medley
• Katie Ledecky: Swimming - Women's 400m freestyle
• Chloe Dygert: Cycling - Women's individual time trial
• Frederick Richard, Brody Malone, Stephen Nedoroscik, Paul Juda, Asher Hong: Artistic Gymnastics - Men's team competition
• Nick Itkin: Fencing - Men's foil individual
• Emma Weyant: Swimming - Women's 400m individual medley
• Ryan Murphy: Swimming - Men's 100m backstroke
• Luke Hobson: Swimming - Men's 200m freestyle
• Nyjah Huston: Skateboarding - Men's street
• Ilona Maher, Kayla Canett, Lauren Doyle, Alev Kelter, Kristi Kirshe, Sarah Levy, Alena Olsen, Ariana Ramsey, Steph Rovetti, Alex Sedrick, Sammy Sullivan, Naya Tapper: Rugby 7s - Women's team competition
• Katharine Berkoff: Swimming - Women's 100m backstroke
• Evy Leibfarth: Canoe slalom - Women's Canoe Single
• Suni Lee: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's individual all-around
• Casey Kaufhold, Brady Ellison: Archery - Mixed Team
• Grant Fisher: Athletics - Men's 10,000m
• Ian Barrows and Hans Henken: Sailing - Men's skiff
• Henry Hollingsworth, Nick Rusher, Christian Tabash, Clark Dean, Chris Carlson, Peter Chatain, Evan Olson, Pieter Quinton: Rowing - Men's eight
• Stephen Nedoroscik: Gymnastics - Men's pommel horse
• Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul: Tennis - Men's doubles
• Jade Carey: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's vault
• Jasmine Moore: Athletics - Women's triple jump
• Melissa Jefferson: Athletics - Women's 100m
• Paige Madden: Swimming - Women's 800m freestyle
• Suni Lee: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's uneven bars
• Austen Jewell Smith: Shooting - Women's skeet
• Fred Kerley: Athletics - Men's 100m
• Cierra Burdick, Dearica Hamby, Rhyne Howard, Hailey van Lith: 3x3 basketball - Women's competition
• Yared Nuguse: Athletics - Men's 1500m
• Brittany Brown: Athletics - Women's 200m
• Omari Jones: Boxing - Men's 71kg
• Hampton Morris: Weightlifting - Men's 61 kg
• Samuel Watson: Sport climbing - Men's speed
• Jasmine Moore: Athletics - Women's long jump
• Noah Lyles: Athletics - Men's 200m
• Matt Anderson, Aaron Russell, Jeff Jendryk, T.J. DeFalco, Micah Christenson, Max Holt, Micah Ma'a, Thomas Jaeschke, Garrett Muagututia, Taylor Averill, David Smith, Erik Shoji, Kyle Ensing: Volleyball - Men's team
• Aaron Marquel Brooks: Wrestling - Men's freestyle 86kg
• Helen Louise Maroulis: Wrestling - Women's
• Kristina Teachout: Taekwondo - Women's 67kg
• Kyle Dake: Wrestling - Men's freestyle 74kg
• Grant Fisher: Athletics - Men's 5000m
• Victor Montalvo: Breaking - Men's (b-boys)
• Alex Bowen, Luca Cupido, Hannes Daube, Chase William Dodd, Ryder Dodd, Ben Hallock, Drew Holland, Johnny Hooper, Max Irving, Alex Obert, Marko Vavic, Adrian Weinberg, Dylan Woodhead: Water polo - Men