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Vinay NayuduDohaQatar’s incredible world champion Mutaz Essa Barshim flew to a record third high jump gold in style at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 in Eugene, United States, on Monday evening (wee hours of Tuesday here).It was another great show from the 31-year-old ‘gravity-defying’ legend who put his worthy rivals to shade in the process of adding one more medal to his gold collection.In an amazing flawless evening of high jumping, Barshim was simply on fire. He kept clearing the bar on his first chance through to the winning height of 2.37m, a world lead. It underlined the greatness of the 6’2” tall athlete who somehow has a unique way of rising on big occasions.Having already secured a hat-trick of gold medals (the most of any high jumper), he then chose to go for the world championship record at 2.41m but fell short. “Three world golds in a row is something that has never been done before. I came here to secure that,” Barshim said. “I know I put a lot of hard work to be where I am. Barshim draped himself with the Qatari flag in celebration and was congratulated by HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, the Qatar Olympic Committee president, on the track.“This is what I live for. It feels amazing to go this far and make this journey count. Making history with three gold medals at the World Championships. Knowing that I can raise the bar for myself and still achieve what I set my eyes on is sensational,” he added.While his jumps seemed effortless, that’s not always how the 2022 season had been for Barshim. After sharing gold at the Tokyo Olympic Games with his friend Gianmarco Tamberi, he struggled to find a rhythm and competed in only two events before the World Championships — failing to surpass the 2.30m mark in either.While he was unable to string together strong performances, he felt healthy leading up to the competition and it showed in his performance.Much similar was the story ahead of his Doha 2019 golden show where he came into the competition battling injury but only excelled under pressure to wow the home crowds.“Defending my Doha title and being recovered after injury is the most amazing thing that could happen to me,” Barshim said. “Sometimes it’s difficult to show jumps and techniques that people like and expect to see from me.”Not so on a certain evening at Hayward Field in Eugene where the high jump final began under clear blue skies and with several high-profile events unfolding around and during the competition.But as the sun-dipped and shadows lengthened, Barshim just came into his own with amazing ease as all his rivals struggled to get close. He cleared heights starting from 2.24m to 2.37m in first attempts.In comparison to Barshim’s great show, World indoor champion Woo Sang-hyeok of South Korea needed three attempts to get over 2.33m and then managed 2.35m at the second attempt to take silver. Ukraine’s Andriy Protsenko collected bronze on the back of his 2.33m clearance.The stellar occasion was superbly honoured by Barshim who simply rose with grace and composure inbetween sipping water and resting on the track when his rivals tried to gauge some measure of the difficulty factor. He also thanked his fans at the stadium at Hayward Field. “Oregon has always been kind to me. I feel the love and the support whenever I’m out here in the United States. And with my family being by my side, this victory means the world to me,” he said.The hat-trick of gold medals not only makes him the first high jump athlete in the world to do so. But also adds to his Olympic gold, won at Tokyo 2020 last year, two Olympic silver medals at London 2012 and Rio 2016. Barshim also has two Asian Games gold medals won at Guangzhou 2010 and Incheon 2014.He also has six Asian Indoor gold medals (from 2010-2018), one World Military Games gold (Rio 2011), and Pan Arab Games gold (2011 Doha) besides world junior and Asian junior gold medals (won in 2010).As the exploits of Barshim in the evening of Monday on the other side of the Atlantic dazzled the sporting world, Qatar rose to a golden glow on Tuesday. The news soon led to social media buzz of he being the ‘GOAT’ (Greatest of All Time). Undoubtedly of the present era. Prior to Oregon22 worlds, Barshim had said, “The better you get, the more pressure is applied to you. It’s the kind of pressure that makes you perform better and takes you to the next level. Now it’s time to think differently. I have gold in every major championship, so what’s next?”The only thing remains, perhaps, is the world record of 2.45m (8 ft 1⁄2 inch) of Cuban Javier Sotomayor. And the way Barshim keeps going, it doesn’t seem too far!
