My interactions with Mutaz, long before he became Qatar's high jump wunderkind…
When Qatari high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim won the country’s first-ever silver medal at the Rio Olympic Games, it was the end of a long 36-year-old wait.
A world away from Rio, I felt proud to see an athlete who I saw grow up right in front of my eyes.
For those who don’t know him, Mutaz is 25 and is considered one of the world’s best jumpers at the moment. His top jump of 2.43M is just two centimeters short of the world record, set 23 years ago by Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor.
Having been a sports journalist, my interactions with Mutaz started in late 2008, long before he became the household name he is today. The first time I met him, I was sitting besides Qatar national team manager Khalifa Abdulmalik, in his office. I was called in to meet with a young, upcoming prodigy.
I arrived a bit early. And just as the clock struck 8pm, a lanky teenager came in and offered me a firm handshake. His rock solid confidence shone through. He sat down gingerly, clearly unaccustomed to being interviewed, and told me his life story.
His father was a race walker and he used to accompany his father for his training sessions. He began life as a long distance runner and switched to high jump at the age of 15.
An Aspire Academy product, his life changed after coming under the tutelage of Polish/Swedish coach Stanisław ‘Stanley’ Szczyrba. So it may sound unbelievable that Szczyrba was not even meant to coach him in the first place. Their rocky start and eventual patch-up make a fascinating story.
“I didn’t come to Qatar to train Mutaz, but another high jumper Rashid Ahmad Al Mannai. No one had given Mutaz a second glance in 2009. Even he didn’t think too highly of himself. He came to every training session late and never obeyed me.
“I told him I didn’t care about his antics and that I would simply go back if he didn’t want me. We later had a heart-to-heart talk and things changed for the better,” Szczyrba said.
I watched from the stadium as Mutaz blew away the opposition at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. I also watched him lose out at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing.
But having been a little part of his international journey, I can say that Mutaz, you’ve made us all proud.
