Hamish Kerr may have won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, but he still became a meme in the process.
Kerr won a jump-off with American Shelby McEwen and took home the gold at Stade de France in Paris, France on Saturday. Kerr, representing New Zealand, may have thought he had already captured gold because McEwen had failed to clear 2.38 meters. So when it was Kerr’s turn at the same hieght, he seemed to feel uncomfortable with his approach on an attempt and decided to just jump straight onto the bag rather than try to clear the bar.
New Zealand’s high jump turned out to be a low miss. Darn! So close. pic.twitter.com/sZQvQwJBXv
— Dr. Jebra Faushay (@JebraFaushay) August 11, 2024
People thought that was hilarious because of the way Kerr approached and just ducked out at the end by seemingly going, “nope.” Many could relate to his actions.
When someone tells me the bar has been raised and they believe in me pic.twitter.com/TRU416N2uq
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) August 10, 2024
Despite the way it looked on that attempt, Kerr had a very successful event. Both he and McEwen cleared 2.36 meters during the main competition but failed to clear 2.38 meters. Rather than share a gold medal as co-champions, the two went to a jump-off. Kerr cleared 2.34 meters while McEwen failed to do so during the jump-off.
