Olympic high jump gold medalists Kerr and Tamberi debate the rules for ties

ROME — At the last two Olympics, the men’s high jump produced a tie — requiring a big decision.

In Tokyo four years ago, Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Barshim agreed to share the gold.

In Paris last year, Hamish Kerr and Shelby McEwen agreed to a jump-off that Kerr finally won after an interminable series of misses.

Nearly a year later, Kerr is suggesting that sharing should be eliminated from the rule book.

“In the future, does that need to be an option?” Kerr, who is from New Zealand, told The Associated Press on Thursday as he prepared to compete at Rome’s Diamond League meeting.

“It’s probably not something that I would ever take," Kerr said of accepting a tie. "I think it’s great that we have people jumping off for medals.”

Tamberi, unsurprisingly, does not agree.

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