Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim emerges as world high jump champion in London

It was a dream day for Qatar at the Olympic Stadium in London when ace high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim finally won a gold medal for the country after a 12-year gap.

The high jumper, who is also the current Asian record holder, won the title with a 2.35M clearance, ahead of Russia’s Danil Lysenko (2.32M), competing as a neutral athlete, and Syria’s Majd Eddin Ghazal (2.29M), the first male medallist from his country, reported Gulf Times.

The Qatari, whose 2.43M best is the second-highest in history after Cuban Javier Sotomayor's 2.45 set 24 years ago, had won silver and bronze at the last two Olympics and silver in the 2013 World Championships.

Arriving in London undefeated in six competitions and armed with seven of the eight best clearances in the world, the Qatari was among the clearest favourites in the British capital over these ten days of competition.

Barshim admirably held up his end of the bargain with one of the most dominating high jump performances in recent memory to finally claim an elusive global outdoor title.

“I was so determined to win it. I was expecting it tonight so I’m glad I managed to fulfill my target tonight,” he was quoted as saying by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

The 26-year-old produced a flawless score card en route to his victory, sailing clear at 2.20M, 2.25M, 2.29M, 2.32M and 2.35M all with his first attempt to seal the win.

Mutaz said he wanted to give it his best shot.

“Let's say, I was recovering last year. I didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself but now I’m back in shape and feel I can go even higher. I don’t want to retire one day with the feeling that there’s still something left,” he told Reuters.