One of the most delightful displays of showmanship—and sportsmanship—in the Tokyo Olympics so far took place on Sunday, during the men’s high jump. Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi
of Italy matched each other leap-for-leap all evening, until they both failed to clear 7 feet 10 inches after three tries. Their options were to enter a sudden-death jump-off—or to share the gold medal. After Barshim, wearing a cap featuring his personal logo, iconically asked for clarification—“Can we have two golds?”—Tamberi, sporting a covetable top knot and pair of personalized socks featuring his own face, leapt into his arms. However, what made the moment so electrifying wasn’t just the outcome, but the lead-up: watching two incredible athletes (who also happen to be close friends) not only jump their hearts out, but doing so in a manner that was downright swaggy.
Of all the Olympic sports, the track and field events are always particularly stylish: shortly after his own win, an elated Tamberi ran to embrace his fellow countryman Lamont Marcell Jacobs. Jacobs, of course, had just become the first-ever Italian to win the 100-meter dash—and did so while wearing a pretty stunning diamond necklace.
The high jump's sartorial standout might have been the pair of Oakley Kato sunglasses that Barshim wore throughout