Mutaz Essa Barshim has a busy season ahead of him. The affable Qatari athlete sounds upbeat as he gears up for the Diamond League which is returning to London on July 23 and aims to nail a fourth consecutive World Championship gold in Budapest this August.
IN the first week of May, high jump superstar Mutaz Barshim kicked off his 2023 outdoor campaign on home soil when he competed at the opening round of the 2023 Wanda Diamond League at the iconic Khalifa International Stadium.
Barshim, a three-time Diamond League champion, aims to reclaim the Diamond Trophy in London after a disappointing start to the season in Doha. He is eager to tap into the same form that led him to become a world champion in London six years ago. Returning to London holds a special place in his heart as that is where he secured his first World Championships title.
The 31-year-old knows that 2023 is the year of the World Championships and arriving in top shape could set him up in top shape for the rest of the season. Not that an occasion fazes the current Olympic and World Champion but the tall Qatari athlete has underlined the importance of the first competition of the new season that would eventually get him to eye the Summer Games next year in Paris.
In between the Doha leg on May 5 and the Paris Olympics 2024 next July-August, Barshim has outlined two key events for him to focus on in the next six months.
“The 2023 season is about to begin, and I have set my own goals and targets to chase. The World Championships in Budapest and the Asian Games in China are my top targets for the season,” Barshim announced in the build-up to the start of the 2023 season. Barshim, who famously shared the high jump gold medal with Italian Gianmarco Tamberi at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, said he had been training well.
Committed performance
“My training in Qatar went smoothly over the winter and I look forward to my Wanda Diamond League season opener in Doha,” said Barshim.
Barshim senior said he would be looking for a committed performance on home soil throughout the season. “Whenever I step on the track, I always want to give my best, that has been the case since my first Diamond League appearance back in Doha, 2011,” he added with a smile. “High jump is my passion and I want to make sure that my name is mentioned whenever high jump is mentioned. I’ve made history being on top of my game for the past decade, but I still strive for more,” he said. “Like I said earlier, this is a long season and I am looking forward to it but it is important that I prioritise my health and stay consistent with a routine that works for me,” he added.
Last year, Barshim arrived at the Oregon World Championships not in the best shape but still went on to turn on the magic when it was needed. He outshone Korea’s Woo Sanghyeok (2.35m) and Ukrainian Andriy Protsenko (2.33m) to soar to his third worlds gold. “Three world golds in a row is something that has never been done before,” Barshim said. “I know I put a lot of hard work to be where I am.”
Barshim, with thousands of home fans rooting for him, had the company of compatriot Abderrahman Samba who was seen in action at Doha leg of the Wanda Diamond League. Samba, who set the Asian 400m hurdles record of 46.98 in 2018, sounded upbeat ahead of his major competition in a long while.
“The Doha Meeting was my first major competition since Tokyo 2021 and provided me with a good starting point as I built towards the World Championships this summer,” Samba told worldathletics.org. “I was in a good shape this time last year and I was disappointed to miss out on the World Championships, but I’ve had a consistent block of training and I’m healthy and ready to race. The 400m hurdles is one of the most exciting events on the programme right now and I want to be back in the mix,” Samba said.
Chequered career
- Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim and Abderrahman Samba got their 2023 Wanda Diamond League campaigns under way on home soil when they competed in the season opener in Doha on May 5.
- Barshim won a third world high jump title in Oregon last year, adding another honour to a career graph that includes the joint Olympic crown he claimed alongside Gianmarco Tamberi in Tokyo.
- The Olympic Games final in Tokyo was Samba’s most recent 400m hurdles race, the 2019 world bronze medallist having injured his hamstring while warming up for the Doha event last May. That injury ruled him out for the whole of 2022.
- Barshim, who set the Asian high jump record of 2.43m – placing him No.2 on the world all-time list in 2014 – is a revered sports figure in Qatar.
- Barshim is the current Olympic Champion (2020). He is also the current World Champion and second highest jumper of all-time with a personal best of 2.43m.
- He won gold at the 2017 World Championships in London and at the 2019 World Championships held in Doha and 2022 World Championship in Oregon.
- In 2021, his bronze medal win at the 2012 Summer Olympics was promoted to silver in a three-way tie for second due to the disqualification of the original gold medalist. That gives him a tally of one gold and two silver medals at the Olympic Games.
FRIENDS AND FOE LIKE NO OTHER
At the Tokyo Olympic Games, a sports story like no other unfolded. Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi – both very good friends off the field – were tied for the gold at the end of the high hump final. A Tokyo Games official approached the duo and asked if they wanted to jump off for the gold medal. “Can we have two golds?” Barshim asked him. “I look at him, he looks at me, and we know it. We just look at each other and we know, that is it, it is done. There is no need,” Barshim said after sharing the medal with Tamberi, who added, ” Neither of us wanted to take this immense joy away from the other, we didn’t even need to discuss it, an eye contact and we both knew we wanted to share this gold. In fact, many times before we’ve joked ‘imagine if we could share an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo?” The Olympic Games 2020 ended with tears of joy for both and adulation from track and field fans right across the globe.
