Incheon: Javier Sotomayor’s world record of 2.45m in the high jump has been besieged by two jumpers at the moment and Qatar’s Mutaz Eisa Barshim is one of them.
In June this year, at the Adidas Grand Prix in New York City, Mutaz and Bohdan Bondarenko were locked in a tight competition. On his first jump, the Qatari cleared 2.42m and improved his personal best and his own Asian mark.
Minutes later, Bondarenko equalled Mutaz’s jump, also on his first attempt. The Qatari then missed his first attempt at 2.44m. Ahead on misses, Bondarenko passed at 2.44m and as a result, Mutaz also passed on his remaining jumps at the same distance to raise the bar to 2.46m, one centimetre above Sotomayor’s world mark that was set on July 27, 1993.
Both jumpers took a combined five attempts at the world record height, with Mutaz coming closest to clearing on his very first attempt. “It [world record] is something that will happen. I am not going to lose my sleep on it,” Mutaz told Gulf News.
“I have a fantastic team around me. So till then, I will just continue with my hard work,” he said.
