Tamberi takes his fifth European HJ title
Gianmarco Tamberi won the high jump at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham and then announced to the crowd that it was his daughter’s first birthday and that he would like the crowd to sing “Happy birthday” to her. Of course they did. Only Gimbo could get away with that!
Most elite track and field athletes can walk around their hometown relatively anonymously. Not Gimbo. He is a legend in his own lifetime. I remember once having a coffee in a street-side café in Rome with a friend who lives in Rome. Gimbo came over to shake my hand. The friend could not believe it.
Gimbo engages with the crowd and makes extreme “Latin” gestures as he performs. He has a great sense of fun, like wearing a pair of shoes with springs attached during the 2024 European Champs! He told me that is just who he is: “I always try to put all my positive vibes into my jumping. I didn’t want to be the kind of athlete with what I would call a typical track-and-field attitude. I wanted to be myself when I’m competing. Just because I put a lot of work into training does not mean I have to be like a robot. I want to be myself, and that is who I am. I like to make the crowd part of my competition, give them some fun because they pay for the tickets. I want them to be happy and to go home thinking I enjoyed watching that competition. I’m just enjoying myself; my reactions are not programmed. I am having fun when I compete, and I want people to have fun watching us.”
He has had a great career winning 5 European and three global events. The one he is most remembered for is the 2021 Olympics when he and Mutaz Essa Barshim agreed to share the gold medal rather than have a jump-off. I spoke to him afterward, and he dismissed the fuss:
“I really don’t care about being more famous. I won the gold medal, but I didn’t expect all the reaction in Italy and around the world. I was just focused on myself, my story and my comeback. I certainly wasn’t thinking about doing something to be more famous”.
In Birmingham the results were:
1 Gianmarco Tamberi 2.32
2 Oleh Doroshchuk 2.30
3 Matti Sioli 2.27
Tamberi said afterward: “I used my mind, my power to try to do my best when it really mattered. I really needed everyone’s support tonight. I can tell you, it was not easy to come and fight when you are not ready to fight. It seemed to me that the crowd supported me as much as the British guys did. Today is the birthday of my little one – my daughter, Camila. This is my birthday present for her”. He may be 34, but he described the victory as another step towards LA 2028. No thoughts of retirement.
A great athlete and a great person.
