New Zealand's Hamish Kerr beats American Shelby McEwen in a jump off for high jump gold in Paris (2024)

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — First they put the bar up higher. Then they lowered it.

Wherever they put it, American Shelby McEwen and world indoor champion Hamish Kerr of New Zealand couldn’t clear it in a jump off for the high jump title at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.

It was Kerr who finally broke the streak of failures when he got over 2.34 meters to take the gold after five misses in the jump off between the two of them. There were so many misses that there wasn't enough room on the scoreboard for all the Xs.

McEwen was left with the silver, with both he and Kerr having cleared 2.36 in regulation.

The competitors could have chosen to tie and both would have received a gold medal, which is exactly what happened at the Tokyo Olympics between Mutaz Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy;

Barshim took the bronze Saturday at 2.34. Tamberi was eliminated early on.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games