Mutaz Barshim Primed for Fourth Straight World High Jump Title
On the track at last month’s Silesia Diamond League, Mutaz Barshim demonstrated his readiness to capture a fourth consecutive world high jump title at the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Budapest. After seeing the Olympic gold medalist Gianmarco Tamberi and Germany’s Tobias Potye both clear 2.34m on their second attempts, Barshim skipped to 2.36m and soared over it on his first try, setting a world-leading mark and meet record.
The 32-year-old Qatari jumper has had to compete cautiously in recent years to manage a severe back problem, but his talent and resilience have kept him at the top of the sport. Tamberi, 31, has also fought his way back from a severe ankle injury to reclaim his place among the high jump elite.
Both Tamberi and Potye, for whom 2.34m represented a personal best, were unable to go higher. Once again, the ever-elastic Barshim celebrated his triumph with his signature exuberant bouncing.
Adding to the intrigue in Budapest will be the presence of the United States’ JuVaughn Harrison, who stands second on the 2023 world list after winning the recent London Diamond League meeting with a 2.35m clearance – his third Diamond League victory of the season.
Korea’s Woo Sanghyeok, the 2022 world indoor champion and outdoor silver medalist, will also pose a strong challenge, as will New Zealand’s Commonwealth Games champion Hamish Kerr, who set an Oceanian record of 2.34m indoors this year, and Ukraine’s world bronze medalist Andriy Protsenko.
In the women’s high jump, Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh will be seeking to capitalize on her world indoor title and outdoor silver and bronze medals by finally claiming the global outdoor gold that has eluded her. The 21-year-old has been in stellar form, leading the world indoor list at 2.02m and standing second outdoors at 2.01m.
Mahuchikh’s main rivals are expected to be Australia’s Eleanor Patterson, the reigning world champion, and her compatriot Nicola Olyslagers, the Olympic silver medalist who has matched Patterson’s Oceanian record of 2.02m. Serbia’s rising talent Angelina Topic, just 18 years old, will also be one to watch after making the podium at the European Championships last year.
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