In just a few days, the World Athletics Championships will officially get under way in Doha, running from 27 September to 6 October, amid great anticipation of fierce competition among the world’s champions, including Qatar’s own athletes, who will look to put in their best performances with the championships being held on home soil and in front of their own fans, led by world star Mutaz Essa Barshim, who is chasing gold and the world title in the high jump.
Barshim has declared himself fully ready for the World Championship test, with strong spirit and determination after making a full recovery from injury and reaching technical and physical readiness for the high jump competition.
Barshim trains daily at Khalifa International Stadium, with strong administrative support, including visits from federation president Dr Thani Al Kuwari to encourage him as he bids for high jump gold at the World Championships.
Barshim posted on his Twitter account today, revealing his full readiness to compete against the world’s champions and do Qatari athletics proud. He wrote: “Just days remain until the World Athletics Championships get under way in Doha,” accompanying the post with a photo confirming his readiness for the global event after a long absence through injury.
Qatari athletics is relying on Barshim in the high jump and a number of his teammates in other events, foremost among them Abderrahman Samba and Ashraf Al Seify, to do Qatar proud at this global event, being held in Doha and the region for the first time, with around 2,000 legends of the sport taking part from some 209 countries. The championships are expected to see strong, exciting competition in the hunt for new records and the breaking of some marks that have stood for years.
Barshim’s participation in the championships marks his first official competition since returning from injury. He had been due to compete in the Doha Diamond League meeting three months earlier, but the technical staff preferred not to risk it, and he duly sat out. His first competition back from injury came at the international friendly athletics meeting held last June in the Polish city of Sopot.
Barshim had suffered an ankle injury while competing at the Hungary meeting in July of the previous year, and continued his treatment journey after the injury before making his first comeback appearance at the Poland international championships. He then completed his preparations through training camps and appearances at several meetings in order to reach his best possible readiness ahead of the World Athletics Championships.
Barshim has an impressive record in the high jump. In 2017 he won the World Athlete of the Year award at the IAAF’s annual awards ceremony, as well as Asia’s best athlete award granted by the Association of National Olympic Committees, following a year of achievements in which he competed in 11 meetings and won every one of them.
Barshim also won gold at the London 2017 World Championships and silver at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics. Our champion is also chasing the world record set decades ago by Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor, which stands at 2.45m, with Barshim’s own personal best standing at 2.42m.
