(MENAFN- Gulf Times)
Qatari Olympic champion Mutaz Barshim won the third world high jump title in a row at the 18th edition of the IAAF World Championships in athletics, held in Eugene, Oregon, USA.
Barshim, the Tokyo Olympic champion with Italian athlete Gianmarco Tamberi, managed to attain this achievement by overcoming five consecutive hurdles from the first attempt, the last of which was 2.37m, ahead of South Korean Woo Sang-hyeok (2.35 m), while bronze went to Ukrainian Andriy Protsenko, who gave his country the first medal in the tournament.
Barshim started the competition by choosing not to cross the 2.19m barrier and moving directly to 2.24m, then 2.27m, 2.30m, 2.33m, 2.35m, then 2.37m without any error.
Woo Sang-hyeok, who beat Barshim in the Doha Round of the Diamond League Athletics Championship on May 13, tried to put pressure on Barshim when he asked to move directly to the 2.39m barrier after he failed in the first attempt to cross 2.37m, but he failed in two attempts and received silver medal.
It is Qatar's fifth gold in the world championships, in addition to two silver and three bronze medals. Olympic Champion Barshim said that during the last eight months, there has been a great deal of work and effort that has been crowned with success, adding that the competition was tough and strong, but his focus was high, without feeling pressure, he was ready for the title.
Barshim, 31, has the second best record in history (2.43 m), achieved on Sept. 5, 2014 in Belgium, 2cm behind Cuban Javier Sotomayor, the world record holder of 2.45m since July 27, 1993.
Barshim is the third Arab athlete to retain the title three times in a row.
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