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Kerr completes Kiwi world double after Beamish tonic
Hamish Kerr claimed New Zealand's second gold medal in two days at the world championships in Tokyo when he won the men's high jump on Tuesday.
Olympic champion Kerr managed a best of 2.36 metres for gold to follow up on Geordie Beamish's shock victory in the men's 3,000m steeplechase on Monday.
South Korea's Sanghyeok Woo claimed silver with a best of 2.34m.
The Korean upped the ante at the climax of a thrilling competition by skipping 2.36m, the bar raised to 2.38m.
But he was ultimately unsuccessful, leaving Kerr to race around the track and take the applause from a raucous crowd at the National Stadium.
Czech Jan Stefela took bronze with 2.31m on countback from Ukraine's Oleh Doroshchuk.
"Today I had to fight for the gold. It was not an easy final for me," said Kerr.
"Many times I thought I wouldn't win. But being able to fight and not give up is important. I showed it tonight. It's not over until it's over."
Reflecting on double Kiwi gold in Tokyo, Kerr said Beamish's performance -- a historic first world track gold for their country -- had been just the tonic.
"Geordie and I have won the world indoor titles on the same day," he said in reference to 2024 in Glasgow when Kerr won the high jump and Beamish the 1,500m.
"He gave me a kick in my ass after his win last night so I had to win too!" Kerr joked.
"It's really kind of cool to share our best moments together."
The high jump competition enthralled the 37,000 Tokyo crowd, something that was not lost on Kerr.
"The thing about the high jump I love most is being able to perform and put on a good show," he said. "We definitely did it tonight.
"I am stoked with the gold and stoked with the way I did it. That's something I am going to look back on.
"All the boys shocked me tonight. This competition was very, very special. Winning when the guys aren't jumping well isn't fun, so to be able to fight against guys for the gold was special."
Silver medallist Woo, who has won two world indoor titles and also a previous world outdoor silver in Eugene in 2023, said he didn't expect the winning height to be as high as it was.
"I was in shape for this and during the competition I was ready to jump more," he said.
"I was surprised that the weather conditions were good enough to jump at that level. I do not want to stop now.
"I have already started to prepare for the world championships in Beijing in 2027. I want to fight for another medal there."
G. Santana--JDB
