New Zealand's Hamish Kerr has snatched a historic Olympic men's high jump gold medal by winning a dramatic jump-off at the Paris Games.
Kerr beat American Shelby McEwen in a one-on-one duel that stretched for more than 30 minutes in the Stade de France, finally securing victory in the third round of the jump-off.
The Dunedin-born 27-year-old ran to embrace family and supporters after clearing 2.34m, with McEwen having failed at that height, leaving the United States jumper to settle for silver.
The pair had finished level after the full round of competition, being the only two jumpers to succeed at 2.26m - which equalled Kerr's personal best height - with co-defending champions Gianmarco Tamberi, of Italy, and Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar having both been eliminated.
The USA's Shelby McEwen. (File pic) Photo: AFP
Kerr has spoken to Sky Sport about the jump-off and said there was no thought of sharing the gold before going into it.
"I was just so at peace with the fact that if that [the jump-off] happened, even if I was to come second, I would be adding to history.
"To come away with a gold in that is just absolutely remarkable, so yeah - it's such a special feeling."
Kerr and McEwen's jump-off was full of tension, with both failing at 2.38m and then 2.36m before they were finally separated at 2.34m.
Kerr becomes the first New Zealand male to win a field event in the Olympic track and field programme after picking up his country's record ninth gold in Paris.
Gold medallist New Zealand's Hamish Kerr celebrates winning the men's high jump final of the athletics event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 10, 2024. Photo: Ben Stanstall/AFP
And under new terms introduced for these Games by World Athletics, he will receive a winner's prize of $US50,000 ($NZ83,400).
In the qualification round earlier in the week, Kerr came within one jump of years of hard work coming to an unexpected halt.
When the bar moved to 2.20m Kerr missed with his first, then his second attempt.
He had one last attempt to keep his Olympic dream alive, and Kerr later admitted fear was setting in.
"I've faced a few of those jumps in my life and not all of them have pulled off so I had to dig pretty deep for that one."
The gold caps a breakthrough year for Kerr, who won gold at the world indoor championships in Glasgow, when he also pushed McEwen into silver.
