Doha: Mutaz Barshim will enter the Stade de France field today as the most successful Olympic high jumper but the Qatari superstar is eyeing more history in Paris. The lanky athlete is targeting his second gold which has never been done before in the men’s high jump competition at the Olympics. He will begin his gold quest as the most-decorated Olympian in the discipline, having won silver medals at London 2012 and Rio 2016 before famously sharing a gold medal with Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi in Tokyo.
The 33-year-old, who had also become the first high jumper to win three consecutive World Athletics Championships at Oregon two years ago, last month, announced Paris will be his last Olympics. Despite being not at his best this season with a highest jump of 2.31m so far, Barshim will start as one of the title contenders as he has often proved himself a big-competition athlete.
“The target for me is always the Olympics. It’s my fourth Olympics, it’s very important to me and I want to sure that I am ready to fight and jump high,” he had said in Xiamen, China at the Diamond League earlier this year. Tamberi, who produced the biggest leap (2.
37m) of the year to claim his third straight European title in Rome in June, remains Barshim’s top rival in the Paris challenge. With both agreeing they will not share gold this time and will opt for a jump-off in case of a tie, thrilling contest is on the cards between the two friends. New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr will also be amon.