Barkley Marathons guru Laz Lake says “people who quit” shouldn’t be declared winners after Olympics gold medal controversy

Barkley Marathons creator Laz Lake has weighed into the debate around the decision of two athletes not to share the gold medal at the end of the men’s high jump at the Paris Olympics.

America’s Shelby McEwen was tied with New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr at the end of the final.

And there had been a precedent set at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 when Italian Gianmarco Tamberi and Qatari Mutaz Essa Barshim opted to share the gold.

But McEwen and Kerr went down a different route, going for a jump-off to determine an outright winner instead of being crowned joint Olympic champions.

‘What are the ethics of competition?’

Unfortunately for McEwen he lost the jump-off, meaning he returned to the US with a silver medal – and that generated a mixed reaction on social media.

But Lake strongly feels that both McEwen and Kerr made absolutely the right call, writing on his Facebook page: “What are the ethics of competition?

“i thought it was kind of shameful in the tokyo olympics,
when the two high jumpers chose to both get half a gold instead of finishing out the competition.
i was amazed when so many people found some sort of “kumbaya moment” in it.
what if the basketball finals had ended in a tie,
and the two teams chose to both get half gold medals instead of playing overtime?
maybe we stop the women’s marathon this year at 20 miles
and give gold medals to all 5 runners still in the lead pack?

“nope,
in my mind the silver medal WON by shelby mcewen was much more honorable than the half golds from tokyo.
because he chose to compete until the event was over
instead of accepting a half gold medal before the overtime.
i am stunned that some people are pillorying him for doing the honorable thing,
instead of chickening out for a half a gold medal.

“but i have never been a fan of the ;
run in together holding hands and tie for the “win” finishes either.
that is showing respect for neither the opponent nor the race.
it is simply ducking out of the pain of fighting to the finish….

“you sacrifice nothing.”

‘Fighting to the finish’

The pain of fighting to the finish was in dramatic evidence at the Barkley Marathons this year again, with one of the now-iconic sight of Jasmin Paris’ desperate sprint for the fabled yellow gate – just 99 seconds inside the allotted 60 hours.

She became the first woman to ever finish the fiendish race – and there were remarkable tales from the other four finishers too.

Lake is also the creator of the Backyard Ultras concept where runners do a 4.167-mile loop on the hour, every hour. The winner is the last person standing, with the penultimate finisher credited with an “assist”.

Lake added:

“the only tie i respect?
the tie in the backyard.
when two runners mutually agree to stop at the end of a backyard,
neither is declared the winner.
they are both assists….

“that shows respect for an opponent.
they gave something up.

“and this is how i think all mutually agreed ties should work.
those high jumpers in tokyo,
give them two silver medals and i respect their decision.
hand holding ties in regular races?
declare them both second place.
i just do not believe that people who quit should be declared winners.

“isnt that in keeping with the ethics of competition?”