Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim reacts after qualifying for the men's high jump final on Tuesday.
Soon after easing into the men’s high jump final, Mutaz Essa Barshim rated himself the ‘favourite’ to win gold medal. If the Qatari superstar marks the highest leap today, he will not just make the hosts proud but will also enter the history books.
A victory today will make Barshim, who clinched gold medal at the 2017 London World Championships, only the second high jumper in the world to win two world titles. Cuban great Javier Sotomayor, who also holds the world record of 2.45m, was the first high jumper to do so.
The stage looks set for Barshim after he enjoyed a flawless run to the final, leaping to 2.17m, 2.22m, 2.27m and season best 2.29m on first attempts, and that too with clear margins.
The 28-year-old Qatari displayed a lot of confidence during the opening round, despite his difficult build up for the competition.
Barshim’s perfect performance in the first round has raised expectations of home fans, who are expected to fill the 48000-capacity Khalifa International Stadium today to watch their hero perform.
And the lanky athlete hopes he will not let the fans down, promising his best show.
“I am happy to compete here and hopefully I will do the hard job in the final. It is really great to jump in front of home crowd, and with your family and wife in the stands, this has become very special. It is giving me extra motivation,” said Barshim.
Barshim suffered an injury last year that ruled him out for many events, following a dream run in the 2017 season during which he won every competition, and the IAAF World-Athlete-of-the-Year award. But, the London Games bronze medallist and Rio Olympics silver medalist, was not thinking about the ordeal with gold in his sights.
“I am happy, no complaints,” he said before tipping himself to retain the crown.
“I’m always the favourite. It doesn’t matter where I compete,” he said.
In today’s final, Barshim, who has a personal best of 2.43m, has things in his favour as only four finalists have successfully sailed over 2.33m this season.
But, the Qatari can still face a lot of resistance on his way to achieve glory. World leader Maksim Nedasekau, the 21-year-old Belarusian, who improved to 2.35m to win the Europe-USA match in Minsk less than a month ago, has appeared as his toughest opponent.
Authorised neutral athletes Ilya Ivanyuk and Mikhail Akimenko have also enjoyed good season, topping 2.33m and 2.31m.
Andriy Protsenko of Ukraine, the fourth-place finisher at the 2016 Olympic Games, topped a 2.31m season’s best to win the Diamond League in August.
Ukraine’s Bogdan Bondarenko, the 2013 world champion, who topped 2.31m earlier this season despite continuing struggles with injury also have the potential to go big. Syria’s Majd Eddin Ghazal, won the Asian title in Doha in April with a leap of 2.31m will also be eyeing a podium finish together.
Abderrahman Samba is the only Qatari so far to clinch medal at the ongoing championships with a bronze medal in men’s 400m hurdles.
