Olympic champion Gianmarco Tamberi has been taken to hospital just days before he is due to start the defence of the high jump title he memorably shared in Tokyo.

The Italian said he had a suspected kidney problem, just three days before the qualifying round is due to begin at the Paris Games.

In one of the most iconic moments in Tokyo three years ago, Tamberi and Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim agreed to share gold after asking permission from the event officials when they could not be split – having recorded the same clearances.

On Sunday, however, Tamberi posted a picture of himself, external in a hospital bed and said: “Unbelievable… this can’t be true. Yesterday… I felt a stabbing pain in my side.

“Emergency room, CT scan, ultrasound, blood test. Probable kidney stone.

“And now I find myself, three days before the event for which I sacrificed everything, lying in a bed, helpless, with a fever of 38.8.”

The 32-year-old said he had been advised to postpone his travel to Paris until Monday.

“Only one thing is certain, I don’t know how I will get there, but I will be there on that platform and I will give my soul until the last jump, whatever my condition will be,” he added.

The qualifying competition takes place on Wednesday morning, with the final on Sunday.