10 Facts about Italian high jump star Gianmarco Tamberi

Gianmarco Tamberi is one of those rare athletes whose ability to turn any competition into a real show is encoded in their very DNA. With his charisma and inexhaustible energy, the Italian athlete has long won the hearts of fans around the world. Here are some intriguing details from the life and career of the great star in high jumping:

High jumping is a family tradition
Athletics literally runs in his veins. His father, Marco Tamberi, was also a high jumper and even held the Italian national record. For many years, the father has also been Gianmarco’s personal trainer, and the Olympic and European champion never ceases to emphasize his key role in his successes.

Sets new standards on the Old Continent
Gianmarco Tamberi first set foot on the European summit in 2016. In 2022, he became the first man to win two continental titles in the event, in 2024 he triumphed for the second time in a row, and in 2026 he defended his gold again.

Rewriting European history
With his incredible victory at the 2026 European Championships in Birmingham and a result of 2.32 meters, Gianmarco Tamberi became the first athlete in history – both men and women – to win four European high jump titles. In the women’s event, Ruth Beitia and Yaroslava Mahuchikh have three gold medals each, but the Italian was the first to reach the four-time European champion.

Italian legend
Loved and idolized in his homeland, Gianmarco Tamberi became the first Italian athlete to win four gold medals in the same event at a continental championship. On the same memorable evening in Birmingham, his compatriot Nadia Battocletti also won her fourth European championship gold medal with a triumph in the 10,000 meters, after winning the 5,000 meters a few days earlier.

A special family triumph
The fourth European gold was a historic moment for Gianmarco Tamberi, but it also had a huge personal charge. The victory came on the same day as his daughter Camilla’s first birthday, and the happy father celebrated the success by singing a birthday song with the packed stands in the stadium.

The first great passion — basketball
Before dedicating himself to the high jump sector, Gianmarco Tamberiwas played by basketball as a child. This love has not faded to this day — he even took part in two editions of the Celebrity Game during the NBA All-Star weekend, the last of which was in 2024.

The origin of the half-shaven beard
Gianmarco Tamberi’s iconic half-shaven style is his trademark on major forums. The beginning of this tradition was laid back in 2011, when he was only 19 years old. It is part of his psychological preparation, as the athlete himself shares: “I love being on stage and entertaining the audience”.

The eccentric socks
In addition to the unconventional beard, Gianmarco Tamberi almost never goes out in the sector without attractive and colorful socks. He pays attention to every detail of his stage image and even has a personalized model of socks with an image of his iconic half-shaven face.

The lost wedding ring in the Seine
After winning gold at the 2021 Tokyo Games and sharing it with Mutaz Barshim, Gianmarco Tamberi had the honor of being Italy’s flag bearer at the opening of the 2024 Paris Olympics. During the parade of nations on the Seine River, his ring slipped and fell into the water. He posted an emotional apology to his wife on social media, jokingly suggesting that she throw hers into the water, adding:

“If it were to happen, if I were to lose this ring, I couldn’t imagine a better place. It would remain forever at the bottom of the river in the city of love.”

In hospital just days before the Olympic final
The drama for the Italian in Paris 2024 didn’t stop there. Just days before the qualifiers, he was rushed to hospital. The tests — a CT scan, ultrasound, and blood tests — revealed a crisis caused by a kidney stone and a concomitant infection. Despite the pain and health problems, Tamberi found the strength to go out in the sector and took eleventh place in the Olympic final with a jump of 2.22 meters.