“ A historic silver, ” the colour and weight of gold, was won by “ Qatar’s Olympic falcon, Mutaz Essa Barshim, ” in the high jump final at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics. Our world champion Barshim once again climbed to the summit of Olympic glory, winning the silver medal for the State of Qatar for the first time, raising Qatar’s Olympic medal haul to five — one silver and four bronzes. Champion Barshim fought an exciting contest down to the very last moment against his rival, Canada’s Derek Drouin, the gold medallist. Our champion Barshim secured the silver medal after clearing a height of 2.36m, having failed in three attempts to clear the bar at 2.38m, while Canada’s Derek cleared the bar at a height of 2.38m on his first attempt and was crowned champion.
Ukrainian jumper Bohdan Bondarenko won bronze at a height of 2.33m, and the high jump final saw the participation of 15 jumpers, who all began at a height of 2.20m and cleared it without difficulty, though failures began for some at the second height (2.25m), eliminating two athletes.
Then, at the third height (2.29m), Barshim continued without a single mistake, and three more athletes dropped out, while Ukraine’s Bohdan Bondarenko chose to skip it and jump straight to 2.33m, seeking to reduce the field to ten, and a fierce battle then began at a height of 2.36m, and it was the turn of Syria’s Ghazal to be eliminated, while Barshim led the competition along with Bondarenko and Drouin without a single mistake, followed by an exciting duel between Qatar’s Barshim and his Canadian rival, both of whom cleared the bar at a height of 2.36m, but Canada’s Derek won the bet with a golden leap at a height of 2.38m, crowning him with first place, while Ukraine’s Bondarenko settled for the bronze medal and third place with a jump at a height of 2.33m.
Sheikh Joaan among the crowd
HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee, was keen to support our champion Mutaz Essa Barshim from the public stands right behind the high jump venue, where his excellency and the entire Qatari delegation, represented by HE Secretary General Dr Thani Al Kuwari and Major General Dahlan Al Hamad, President of the Qatari and Asian athletics federations and Vice President of the International Association of Athletics Federations, followed the Olympic contest and cheered and encouraged our champion Barshim until he achieved Olympic glory and the silver medal.
Qatari joy in Rio
Overwhelming joy, coloured by glory and pride, was experienced by the Qatari delegation led by HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani and all delegation members with the conclusion of the thrilling competition, as everyone exchanged congratulations and best wishes for this historic achievement by Olympic champion Mutaz Essa Barshim, adding a new medal to Qatar’s Olympic treasury and raising our tally to five medals, including Mutaz Essa Barshim’s double of silver and bronze from London 2012, in addition to the bronzes of Mohammed Suleiman in Barcelona 1994, Asaad Saeed Saif in Sydney 2000, and Nasser Al-Attiyah in London 2012.
Congratulations pour in for the Qatari delegation
The Qatari delegation, led by HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, President of the Olympic Committee, and the participating Olympic delegation, received a flood of congratulations and best wishes from the Arab and friendly delegations taking part in the Olympics, as well as from the champions present in the Olympic village, with waves of visitors flocking to the delegation’s headquarters until late on Tuesday night and into the early hours of Wednesday.
Barshim, the world’s second best ever
Our Olympic champion Mutaz Essa Barshim remains the second-highest jumper in history at 2.43m, close to the legendary world record of Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor at 2.45m, which has stood since 1993 and remains unbeaten by all challengers, while the list of participants in Rio included four athletes who had jumped 2.40m or higher, led by Mutaz Essa Barshim (2.43m), Ukrainians Bohdan Bondarenko, the 2013 world champion (2.42m), and Andriy Protsenko (2.40m), and Canada’s Derek Drouin, the 2015 world champion (2.40m). Four others had previously stood on Olympic podiums, while the competition also saw the notable absence of Russia’s Ivan Ukhov, the London 2012 gold medallist at 2.38m, after his country was banned from participating following a major doping scandal. Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi, who had this year’s second-best mark (2.39m), was also absent due to an injury sustained at the Monaco meeting, though he was present among the spectators.
Brazilian encouragement
Mutaz Essa Barshim received huge encouragement from the Brazilian crowd, who followed and reacted strongly to our champion Mizo’s successive successful attempts as he cleared the bar at various heights, right up to his final attempt at a height of 2.38m, where he was unsuccessful, but he went on to salute the crowd and thank them for their support to the very last moment.
A lap of honour around the stadium
The Olympic trio adorned with coloured medals, Barshim, Derek and Bogdan, took a lap of honour around the stadium to salute and thank the crowd present, greeting them warmly for their support and backing, and they also took commemorative selfies and signed autographs for enthusiastic children and fans.
Mutaz, king of social media
Our Olympic champion Mutaz has a great ability to connect through various modern media platforms, and has a broad fan base on social media — Facebook, Instagram, Telegram — and other platforms, with many followers from around the globe closely following the stages of his sporting activity and his shuttle tours around the world, and as soon as his competition ended he tweeted wishing himself success and gold in Tokyo 2020.
Barshim — the complete package
Our Olympic champion Mutaz Essa Barshim, star of Qatari athletics and a graduate of the Aspire Academy of sporting excellence, has become the finest, most complete Qatari athlete to achieve the highest Olympic honour for the State of Qatar by embracing Rio 2016 silver alongside London 2012 bronze, noting that 23-year-old Mutaz Essa Barshim has pledged to his guardians to achieve a new feat at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, God willing.
The able Stanislav — more than a coach
Esteemed coach Stanislav, coach of our champion Mutaz Essa Barshim, is more than a coach — he is like a second father and mentor to Mizo on his professional journey. Coach Stanislav came to the Doha of glory with a different ambition, and realised from the very first moment that he had found a treasure in training Mutaz Essa Barshim, betting on his great potential and ability to climb to the summit of world Olympic glory, and so he knew how to unlock Mutaz’s potential and abilities, instilling in him a spirit of perseverance and self-confidence, and giving him the spirit of a champion and the desire to reach the highest levels of sporting glory.
Ideal conditions for jumping
Rio de Janeiro’s weather yesterday was clear, and although the sky was covered with dark clouds it did not rain, making conditions ideal for the high jump champions, who completed their attempts according to the approved schedule, despite Canada’s Derek attempting to clear the bar at a height of 2.40m, but failing in his three attempts, settling for gold without breaking the Olympic record of 2.39m, set by Australian jumper Charles Austin at the Atlanta Olympics in the United States in 1996.
