The Peninsula
Qatar’s high jump superstar Mutaz Barshim doesn’t like to be the second best.
The reigning Olympic and world champion with multiple major titles under his belt is arguably the best-ever athlete in his field and the only achievement that eludes him is the world record.
Barshim sits second on the world all-time list at 2.43m, he leaped in Brussels nine years ago, and since then attempts to break Cuban Javier Sotomayor’s feat of 2.45m – set in 1993 – were unsuccessful.
In 2018 in Hungary, Barshim came close to the feat with the bar raised to a would-be world record of 2.46m. He just touched the bar on his way up before it fell on his first attempt. That jump he termed as his best ever then.
The second attempt, which was also a decent leap, resulted in a career-threatening injury after he clutched his left ankle missing action for months.
At 31, the world record is still in Barshim’s sight as he enters the first competitive contest of the season – the Diamond League season opener set to take place at Qatar SC’s Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium on Friday.
“I always aim for the maximum. I am still active and while I am active I will keep chasing the best possible,” the three-time world champion told reporters when asked about his world record ambitions, on the sidelines of the pre-meeting press conference on Thursday.
“There is nothing like that I can’t achieve if you don’t believe go home don’t be here,” he said with a smile.
In his first competition of the season, Barshim comfortably jumped 2.20m to take gold at the West Asia Athletics Championship in Doha last week.
The three-time Olympic medalist said he was after the “big fish” with events like the Diamond League serving as training for him.
“I am a different athlete now and we have our own targets. I am up for the big fish and that’s for me are the World Championships, the Olympics and the Asian Games this season,” said Barshim, who has clinched the Diamond League trophy three times.
Asked if he was confident of winning the fourth consecutive world title in Hungary this August, he said: “I am confident that I can win again, every time I come into the field I am confident.”
Today, Barshim will be up against the likes of South Korea’s Woo Sang-hyeok, who won in Doha last year, and American JuVaughn Harrison, who has a personal best of 2.36m.
The lanky Qatari athlete said he was only focusing on himself rather than looking at the opponents.
“It’s the start of the season. Definitely, I’m excited. Not only to compete but to compete at home. The start of the season, I think it’s very important to all of us athletes, you know, the first step. Again, competing home for me is like definitely an extra boost and I’m looking forward to that,” Barshim told the press conference earlier.
Meanwhile, Olympic and world pole vault champion Katie Moon was also hoping for success in Doha. The Qatar capital reunites the podium trio of the World Athletics Championships in Eugene as Sandi Morris (USA) and Nina Kennedy (AUS) will also compete.
“I love that. Especially in the pole vault, we always love to compete,” Moon said of the tough field.
“I think for just about all of us, it’s our first competition. And you never really know what you’re going to get, especially in the pole vault. I know on any given day, any one of those women can jump extremely high. And I want to come out and be that person that jumps really high tomorrow,” she said.
As many as 180 athletes from 80 countries will be seen in action in the season-opening meeting of the 14-leg Diamond League with the venue expected to host a large crowd after organisers received an overwhelming response to ticket sales. The star-studded line-up in Doha includes 15 reigning individual Olympic and world champions.