Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim competes in the men's high jump event during the IAAF Diamond League in Shanghai, China yesterday. Barshim cleared 2.33m to win.
Qatar’s Olympic hero Mutaz Essa Barshim overcame a few hiccups to register his second consecutive victory of the new season and maintain lead at the IAAF Diamond League in Shanghai, China.
The high jump maestro, who leaped to 2.36m to win the season-opening meeting in Doha earlier this month, cleared 2.33m to win the contest.
In his first attempt, the Olympic silver medallist successfully hopped to 2.24m and went on to clear 2.27m in his second attempt.
Although it was not the best of his shows, the 25-year-old Qatari was delighted to maintain his winning streak in the prestigious Diamond League series.
“I'm happy with the win. It was an important win and important point,” the Qatari said after his victory.
Barshim, however, didn’t seem convinced with the quality of the arrangements for the high jump competition in Shanghai.
“It was the weirdest competition ever."
"I had some problems with my footing and I think that is why so many people struggled. But I did what I had to do and I was pleased with the win,” he said.
Chinese high jumper Wang Yu finished second in the competition with his season’s best of 2.30m.
He tried to match Barshim with a 2.33m leap but failed in all of his three attempts.
“It's an honour to compete with all these high-level athletes. Today, I improved my season's best but not satisfied with that because I think I could have jumped better."
"I will go to Ji Nan for my next competition."
"I hope I can improve my performance in the next year's competition,” the home athlete added.
Finishing third was Andrily Protsenko of Ukraine who leaped to 2.27m, also his season’s best.
The third meeting of the IAAF Diamond League will be held in Eugene, USA on May 27.
