Winning an Olympic medal is a dream for any athlete. They put in countless hours in practice perfecting the craft and leave no stone unturned to stand on the podium and see their country's flag go up. However, in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, two friends wanted to share their medal instead of competing for it.
In the final stage of the men's pole vault, five athletes were fighting it out for the gold medal. America's Earle Meadows' record-breaking 4.35 metres remained unmatched and he won the gold medal.
Only two competitors of the four managed to clear 4.25. Both athletes -- Shuhei Nishida and Sueo Oe – were from Japan. They were not just competitors but were good friends as they studied at the Japanese universities.
Japanese duo’s request rejected
Shuei and Sueo did not want to compete for the silver medal. The Japanese duo opted to share the silver medal but their request was denied by the judges.
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After much brainstorming, the officials contacted the Japanese delegation asking them to make the decision on who will take home the silver and bronze medal. Later, it was decided that Shuei will get the silver medal as he needed fewer attempts to cross the 4.25 metre-mark. In the end, they had to accept the decision reluctantly.
Unique problems require unique solutions
However, the two friends upon reaching Japan came up with a unique idea. They took their medals to a jeweler and asked them to cut them in half. They joined half of the silver medal and bronze medal to create two half-silver and half-bronze medals. The medals were named as "The Medals of Friendship".
Another unique tale eight and a half decades later
85 years later, in the long jump category, Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi and Qatar's Mutaz Barshim agreed to share a medal at the Tokyo Games. They were given a chance to settle who will win the gold medal with a jump-off. But Barshim said "How about two golds?" to which the official replied that it is possible. The two athletes accepeted the decision and broke into wild celebrations on the track.
Barshim and Tamberi had been good friends since 2017. “For me, coming here, I know for a fact that for the performance I did, I deserve that gold,” Barshim said. “He did the same thing, so I know he deserved that gold. This is beyond sport. This is the message we deliver to the young generation.”
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