Gianmarco Tamberi, an Olympic champion and showman from Italy, defeated the young American JuVaughn Harrison in a thrilling final on Tuesday to win his first high jump world championship.
Tamberi, who notably won gold alongside Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim, a three-time world champion, at the Olympics, cleared a record-breaking 2.36 metres to win. He made one effort at 2.40 and missed it, so he gave up after knowing he had won.
Tamberi, 31, jumped into the steeplechase water hazard in celebration with Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco, who had just won the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, while wearing one green and one red sock and shaving just one side of his face.
Tamberi currently possesses a complete set of high jump gold medals in addition to winning the world indoor, European, and Diamond League championships.