Gianmarco Tamberi (born 1 June 1992) is an Italian high jumper, current Olympic champion (2020), European outdoor champion (2022) and World outdoor champion (2023).
He won the 2021 Diamond League crown, becoming the first ever Italian to do so, and repeated this in 2022.
Until 2022 Tamberi was coached by his father, Marco Tamberi, who held the indoor Italian record in 1983 with a height of 2.28 m.
2015
In 2015, Tamberi broke the Italian high jump record twice—first with a jump of 2.34 m in Cologne, and second with a 2.37 m in Eberstadt, where he was second behind Derek Drouin.
He later finished 8th at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing with a clearance of 2.25 m.
2016
During winter 2016, Tamberi won every contest he participated at.
He won in Banska Bystrica with 2.35 m, a new Italian indoor record, equalled by Marco Fassinotti in the same event.
He won in Třinec after clearing 2.33 m. At the 2016 High Jump Moravia Tour, he recorded a jump of 2.38 m, enough to beat Chris Baker of Great Britain and Kyriakos Ioannou of Cyprus, and which gave him the Italian indoor high jump record.
He won a gold medal at the World Indoor Championships in Portland in March 2016 with a jump of 2.36 m.
Tamberi was unable to compete at the 2016 Olympics due to an injury earlier in the season.
At major competitions, he is known for sporting a full beard during qualification and shaving half of it for the final.
On 1 August 2021, he along with Qatari athlete Mutaz Essa Barshim were declared tied winners of the men's high jump at the 2020 Summer Olympics after a tie between both of them as they cleared 2.37m.
Both Tamberi and Barshim agreed to share the gold medal in a rare instance in Olympic history where the athletes of different nations agreed to share the same medal.
After the failed jumps Barshim asked the referee "Can we have two golds?"
and when hearing the answer was yes, embracing Tamberi saying "History, my friend".
At the 2022 NBA Celebrity All-Star Game, Tamberi appeared on Dominique Wilkins's team, and made a putback dunk.
He was the first high jump champion to appear in the Celebrity Game.
Tamberi won the gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, besting America's JuVaughn Harrison on a countback after both cleared the same 2.36 metres height.
Tamberi is known for competing with a half shaven face.
Best outdoor World ranking of Tamberi was 2nd in 2016, but he was indoor World leader in 2016 and 2021.
