Promising Qatari champion Mutaz Essa won the gold medal in the high jump final, clearing an outstanding jump of
(2.30m) at the World Junior Championships currently being held in the Canadian city of Moncton, with 700 athletes from 150 countries taking part. American David Smith took the silver medal and runner-up spot with a mark of (2.24m), while Japan’s Naoto Tobe finished third with (2.21m). It was the first Arab gold in the high jump since the championship began in 1986, and it was also the fourth gold for it ….
Barshim’s victory at the age of 19 was no surprise, as he had been among the leading contenders for the title after setting the best world junior mark of the year (2 metres 31 cm) earlier in the month, when he won the Asian junior gold in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.
Mutaz’s teammate, Qatari runner Mohammed Al Karni, had earlier taken third place and the bronze medal in the 1500m final at the championships the day before yesterday with a time of (3:38.91) ,,, With this haul the Qatari youth team’s tally rose to two medals, one gold and one bronze, and runner Mohammed Al Karni was due to contest the 800m final late last night, being among the contenders for a high finish in the world challenge
