Emotions ran high during the Olympic high jump final as Gianmarco Tamberi cleared the bar at 2.22 meters on his third attempt.
Despite battling kidney colic earlier in the day and being transported to the hospital by ambulance, Tamberi showcased his determination during the warm-up for the high jump final at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Along with his competitors, including his friend-rival Barshim, Tamberi practiced by successfully clearing and then knocking down the bar at a lower height to perfect his movements.
Wearing the blue suit of Italy and a hood over his head, Tamberi made his entrance onto the Stade de France track alongside the other high jump finalists to warm up for the event starting at 7:00 pm. Under the watchful eye of many Italian fans, he greeted them, bowed to the applause, and began running and jumping to prepare for the competition.
From the early morning kidney colic episode to boarding the bus for Stade de France, it was T-day in Paris 2024, a minute-by-minute account of a champion’s pain. Tamberi, aiming for a second gold in high jump, bravely confronted his nightmare.
The live social media updates began at 5 am when Tamberi experienced his second kidney colic attack, following the one that had caused him to delay his departure to Paris a week earlier. The excruciating pain persisted; five hours later, at 10:20 am, Tamberi posted an old photo of himself looking downtrodden, shocking the Italian delegation at the Games and his followers in Italy.
“It’s all over,” he wrote, announcing the new illness, and the initial thought was to withdraw. However, Tamberi surprised everyone. “I am speechless, I am really sorry to death. Will I compete on the field tonight? Yes, but I really don’t know how I will jump in these conditions…”.
To jump or not to jump? Perhaps just a walk to acknowledge the audience. Everyone had to wait until 7 pm, the scheduled time for the Stade de France and the high jump final. However, five more hours passed, and the suspense increased with Tamberi’s wife, Chiara Bontempi, providing an update beside him: “Many of you are calling to inquire, here is the situation. We are in the hospital,” she wrote at 3:20 pm, depicting Tamberi’s arm undergoing intravenous therapy.
Meanwhile, Stefano Mei, the president of the Italian Athletics Federation, reiterated that Tamberi was eager to compete but was under medical supervision because taking risks was not an option. Soon after Chiara’s update, Tamberi shared another desperate cry via Instagram, just 20 minutes later. “(Even what was my last certainty is about to vanish… I have just been taken to the emergency room by ambulance after vomiting blood twice.” The photo was taken in the ambulance by Tamberi himself, one hand holding the phone for the shot and the other grasping Chiara (the caption, of course, came later). In essence, was it all over? Just over an hour later, while the Federation released a statement in the old-school style stating that medical checks did not reveal an “absolute impediment” to compete, Tamberi took the definitive selfie: “I will be there.” It was 5:01 pm. Hood on, grim look, credential around his neck. And it was not necessarily the end.
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