The High Jump Was the Olympics at Their Best—and Most Stylish

One of the crucial pleasant shows of showmanship—and sportsmanship—within the Tokyo Olympics thus far passed off on Sunday, throughout the males’s excessive leap. Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy matched one another leap-for-leap all night, till they each didn’t clear 7 ft 10 inches after three tries. Their choices had been to enter a sudden-death jump-off—or to share the gold medal. After Barshim, carrying a cap that includes his private brand, iconically requested for clarification—“Can we’ve two golds?”—Tamberi, sporting a covetable top knot and pair of personalised socks that includes his personal face, leapt into his arms. Nonetheless, what made the second so electrifying wasn’t simply the end result, however the lead-up: watching two unimaginable athletes (who additionally occur to be shut associates) not solely leap their hearts out, however doing so in a way that was downright swaggy.

Of all of the Olympic sports activities, the monitor and subject occasions are all the time notably fashionable: shortly after his personal win, an elated Tamberi ran to embrace his fellow countryman Lamont Marcell Jacobs. Jacobs, after all, had simply turn into the first-ever Italian to win the 100-meter sprint—and did so whereas wearing a pretty stunning diamond necklace.

The excessive leap’s sartorial standout might need been the pair of Oakley Kato sunglasses that Barshim wore all through the nighttime competition. These weren’t precisely purposeful. It was, after all, darkish, and the shades flew off his face just about each time he cleared the bar. (Because the digital camera minimize to him whereas he readjusted them earlier than every leap, the stripes on the monitor would mirror again within the sci-fi lenses, mirroring the stripes on the Qatari Olympic uniform. Somebody name a cinematographer!) Deeply futuristic, wraparound sunglasses have been on the up-and-up for some time now—although on the planet {of professional} sports activities, they were never really out. Whereas the Katos are at present bought out on Oakley’s web site on account of excessive demand, in case you’ve been desirous about getting a pair, now is likely to be the time to get your self on the ready record. You is likely to be competing with a gold medalist, although: As the New York Times reported, within the moments after their post-gold embrace, Barshim truly broke the glasses he was carrying. “It’s OK,” he stated. “I’ve acquired like 50 pairs.”

Sadly, there may be not but an Olympic competitors for private model. But when there have been, Barshim and Tamberi would undoubtedly share the honorary gold there, too.