An Arab athlete just broke a 28-year-old record
(Source: Instagram/Mutaz.Barshim) Qatar-born Sudanese athlete Mutaz Barshim is well on his way to making history.
By: Rayana Khalaf
Source: Stepfeed
The 26-year-old track and field athlete, who specializes in high jumps, recently broke a 28-year-old meeting record at the IAAF Diamond League, the annual series of track and field meetings organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
Barshim also made the highest jump recorded by a male athlete in the high jump category this year.
WL and 2.38m meeting record for Mutaz Barshim in the#OsloDL high jump, finally eclipsing Javier Sotomayor’s meet standard set in 1989 (!). pic.twitter.com/NDciAhcvPt
— IAAF (@iaaforg) June 15, 2017
Dubbed “Qatar’s baby-faced assassin” by the IAAF, Barshim made a 2.38-meter jump, the highest in the history of the competition. He broke the previous meeting record (2.37 meters) that has been held by Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor, the world record-holder since 1989.
Barshim set the new meeting record despite a shaky start, having failed at the 2.35-meter jump twice before clearing the mark in his last attempt. He went on to hit the 2.38-meter mark in his second attempt at the jump, winning the competition by a landslide, with all other competitors achieving less than 2.30 meters.
Barshim’s achievement at the Diamond League is also the best recorded in the world so far this year.
He told the media that he had been aiming at breaking the meeting record. “That was the target,” he said. “We came for 2.38, so mission completed. At the beginning, I was feeling a little bit sleepy, but after 2.33, I woke up and came into the right rhythm.”
Born in Doha to a Sudanese family, Barshim has made a name for himself in the world of athletics.
In 2014, he made a 2.43-meter jump, which is the current Asian record and the second highest jump of all time after Javier Sotomayor (2.45 meters).
He won a bronze and silver medal at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games respectively and currently has his eyes set on the gold for Tokyo 2020. Qatar had only bronze medals in its Olympic tally until Barshim took silver in Rio 2016.
The high-jumper has several regional and international medals to his credit, including a World Indoor Championship gold and a World Championship silver.
