PARIS - Saturday's high jump finals at the 2024 Summer Olympics brought plenty of drama and edge-of-your-seat moments. However, when it was all said and done, former Northwest men's basketball student-athlete Shelby McEwen came away with his first Olympic medal.

McEwen was one of 12 competitors in the high jump finals and competed in a jump-off tiebreaker with Hashim Kerr of New Zealand. Though Kerr would ultimately walk away with the gold medal, McEwen was still all smiles after earning the silver medal.

McEwen was the only American to advance to the finals out of the qualifying round, held earlier last week. The Abbeville native cleared 2.17 meters, 2.22 meters, 2.27 meters and 2.31 meters, all on his first attempts. As the field began to dwindle, McEwen missed his first two attempts at 2.34 meters, but cleared the bar on his third and final attempt, remaining in the competition.

On his first attempt at 2.36 meters, McEwen looked like his normal self, clearing the bar and clinching a top-three finish. After previous gold-medalist Mutaz Essa Barsham (Qatar) bowed out with the bronze, only McEwen and Kerr remained to compete for the gold at 2.38 meters.

Both jumpers missed their three attempts at 2.38 meters, triggering the deciding jump-off. After each tried one more attempt at 2.38 meters, the bar was lowered to 2.36 meters, which McEwen and Kerr both missed again.

After the bar was lowered once more to 2.34 meters, McEwen missed his attempt. Kerr then cleared the bar, ending the jump-off and sending McEwen home with the silver medal.

McEwen previously competed in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, but finished 12th in the finals. The former Alabama track and field star got his collegiate start at Northwest, where he played basketball from 2015-17, before resuming his college track and field career with the Crimson Tide.