Olympics Update

Qatari athlete Mutaz Essa Barshim will be bringing gold home from Tokyo after winning the men’s high jump competition. So will his good friend, Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi. Both men were awarded first place after each jumped to a stunning height of 2.37 meters (about 7 feet 9 inches) but failed to match the Olympic record by clearing 2.39 meters. They could have competed in a head-to-head jump-off to determine who would get the gold and who the silver, but asked to share the top spot instead. This is the second gold medal in the Tokyo Games for Qatar, which has now overtaken Tunisia among MENA countries. Morocco now has a gold medal as well after Soufiane El Bakkali won the men’s 3000m steeplechase. In addition, two Turkish wrestlers won bronze medals on Monday: Riza Kayaalp in men’s Greco-Roman wrestling in the 130kg weight class and Yasemin Adar in women’s freestyle in the 76kg category.