- Title: "The doctor said I might never run again," says Italian gold medallist Tamberi
- Date: 2nd August 2021
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (AUGUST 1, 2021) (REUTERS) ITALIA TEAM LOGO VARIOUS OF TAMBERI TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) ITALIAN HIGH JUMP GOLD MEDALLIST, GIANMARCO TAMBERI, saying: "It was a magical night, I was waiting for this for so long. After that injury in 2016 I passed through many, many problems, I never gave up, I always believed it was possible yesterday to win that gold medal. Many, many times I couldn't sleep in the night, I cried alone in the bed and, you know, it was just very difficult to come back from that injury. The doctor or the surgeon I met the first time told me 'you would be lucky if you can run again' and I came back, I jumped again, and then I jumped again with the top athletes in Italy and then Europe, then the world and now I'm coming back again with a gold medal in the Olympic Games, I think it's just an amazing story to tell." TAMBERI TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) ITALIAN HIGH JUMP GOLD MEDALLIST, GIANMARCO TAMBERI, saying: "It was just crazy, I couldn't control my body after I understood what happened, I understood that I finally really did it, I just realised my biggest dream ever and after what I passed through it's something much more than a simple gold medal at the Olympic Games. It's something really... it goes over that. I've been also remembered as the high jumper who got an injury before the Olympic Games (in Rio de Janeiro), now I'm a man who recovered from a big injury and I've won a gold medal and that's what I wanted from the first day."
- Embargoed: 16th August 2021 16:18
- Keywords: Gianmarco Tamberi Tokyo Olympics high jump
- Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
- City: TOKYO, JAPAN
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Olympics,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA003EOL77T3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Italian high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi arrived at his national Olympic house on Monday (August 2) after wining gold the night before.
Tamberi is the second Italian to win gold in the high jump after Sara Simeoni won the women's competition in Moscow in 1980.
Tamberi, who broke his ankle days before the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016, hugged everyone he could find on the track. Draped in an Italian flag, he was also the first to embrace his compatriot Lamont Marcell Jacobs after his 100m win.
Speaking at Casa Italia, Tamberi said he had come a long way from his injury to clinching gold in Tokyo.
Tamberi agreed to share gold in the men's high jump with Qatar's world champion Mutaz Essa Barshim.
When Barshim finished level with Tamberi at 2.37 meters, facing a potential jump-off to decide the gold medal, he calmly asked the official: "Can we have two golds?"
The official nodded, both athletes hugged each other and whooped with joy before breaking off into celebratory circuits of the stadium.
"Two is better than one," said Tamberi.
(Production: Andy Ragg) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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- Usage Terms/Restrictions: Olympic restriction: Clip cannot be re-published without additional clearances from the IOC.
