Hamish Kerr in the final of the men's high jump at Stade de France, north of Paris. Photo: Iain McGregor / www.photosport.nz
As big names faltered in Paris, high jumper Hamish Kerr held his nerve to become New Zealand's first Olympic athletics gold medallist in a new era.
A week before his 28th birthday, the world number one-ranked Kerr added Olympic champion to his indoor world champion title.
Kerr needed a jump off to take the top spot on the podium at Stade de France on Sunday morning (NZ time), and with it a hefty prize money cheque.
He easily got over the early heights of 2.17m, 2.22m and 2.27m, before 2.31m caused him a bit of trouble.
It took three attempts for Kerr to clear 2.31m, which was 6 centimetres under his season best.
By this stage the world number four and Tokyo Olympics joint gold medalist Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi had been knocked out at 2.27m, well below his season's best.
As Kerr moved on to get over 2.34m with his first attempt, many of the six remaining athletes in the field were setting personal or season bests, and this was the height that separated the medallists from the rest.
Only four athletes would contest 2.36m - a height that Kerr had jumped in March to win the indoor title and set the New Zealand record. He cleared it first time. The gold medal became his to lose.
Hamish Kerr centre, surrounded by Shelby McEwen from USA, who took silver and Mutaz Essa Barsham from Qatar, who claimed bronze in the men's high jump. Photo: Iain McGregor/Photosport
As the Tokyo Olympics' other joint gold medalist Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barsham tactically passed on his third and final attempt at 2.36m, to keep himself in the competition at 2.38m, he missed that height too.
Leaving Kerr and USA's Shelby McEwen to decide who took the gold. It took one of his best efforts, but Kerr got it done in a jump off after neither he or McEwen could get over 2.38m in three attempts.
This time there would be no sharing of the gold medal.
"The event's been pretty up and down this year. I've obviously had some good wins, but at the same time I knew that those wins were going to get challenged here tonight, and so I knew that I needed to step up," Kerr said.
"I think jumping 2.36m proved that, and the 2.34m in the jump off, but it's great to see the event flourish like that. You don't really want to win on a 2.30, you want to win on something good, so it's nice a bunch of guys were clearing those heights."
World Athletics' decision to award the 48 track and field gold medallists at the Paris Olympics with US$50,000 each ended a 128-year tradition in a move other sports have called not in the Olympic tradition.
For Kerr the cash boost means he can keep doing the sport he got into as a teenager and bring his coach and support crew along for the ride.
Hamish Kerr celebrates winning Olympic gold. Photo: Iain McGregor / www.photosport.nz
"I didn't get into the sport as a child to make money, I got into it because all my mates did it, because it's a great way of challenging yourself and pushing yourself to get better everyday and that's definitely the mindset I take into every day now.
"So it's great that I can be paid relatively well for what I do now, but at the same time I'm just unbelievably proud of my achievements.
"It's pretty tough travelling all this way [to Europe] for a number of months a year by myself. So this year and last year I've been lucky enough that I have been able to bring a few people along with me. My coach comes with me a lot now and my girlfriend comes in and out.
"So just to have those people and to be able to enable them those journeys and bring them over for me is really cool, and it's something really special we can share as a team. So that's probably the most exciting thing is that it's going to get easier and easier from now on."
At the next Olympics silver and bronze medallists on the track and field will also get in on the prize money put forward by World Athletics.
