Qatar’s high jump icon Mutaz Essa Barshim ended his stellar Olympic career with a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.
At the Stade de France, the 33-year-old Barshim, who has struggled with injury all season, did a celebratory backflip off the mat after his last jump. The bronze was his fourth medal in as many Olympic appearances, having won gold in Tokyo three years ago and a silver each at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games. He has said this Paris Games would be his last.
The gold went to New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr after he beat American Shelby McEwen in a jump-off in contrast to the last Games when the gold was shared by Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi in Tokyo.
After his qualifying on Wednesday was hampered by a calf injury, there were question marks over how fit Barshim would be for the final. But the track and field great quickly dismissed any concerns as he looked on course to defend his title even as Tamberi had a night to forget, finishing 11th in the 12-strong field with a best jump of 2.22m.
Barshim breezed through the early jumps as the bar continued to rise. His first failure came at 2.36m, quickly followed by another. With Kerr and McEwen clearing their heights, Barshim opted to skip his third attempt and instead prepared for one final shot at glory.
With the bar set at 2.38m — just one centimetre higher than his winning mark from Tokyo but well below his personal best of 2.43m — Barshim energised the Paris crowd. Despite his best effort, he clipped the bar and watched it fall.
“Alhamdulilah, every championship has its circumstances,” Barshim said later. “Continuity is the hardest thing for an athlete, especially after the injuries one succumbs during their career. We are talking about 12 years on the podium, it’s not an easy task,” he added.
The three- time world champion was proud of what he had achieved in the four Olympic Games he took part in. “Alhamdulilah, it was my dream to become an Olympian and now I am the Olympic athlete with the most high jump medals, this within itself is an achievement and what can I say? You guys have never disappointed with your support and cheering, this medal is for you, not for me, this medal is for all those who supported me, this medal is for all the fans of Mutaz Barshim,” he said.
Barshim said he will continue to ply his trade at other events, though ruling himself out of the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. “I have announced that this was the last Olympics but not the last championship. There is a world indoor championship in China as well as the World Championship in Japan and there is also the Asian Games,” he noted.
Barshim was keen to pass on his wisdom to youngsters. “It doesn’t matter where I am, or about positions I finish, I have experience that I have acquired on the field and would love to transfer this experience to the coming generation through the best position and the best place. Let’s see. I have not confirmed anything yet. There are plans, but I have not decided. I will share my experience in the right capacity, either as a coach, administrative, consultancy, whatever it may be,” he signed off.
Meanwhile, Kerr said he was ‘in shock’ after winning the Olympic men’s high jump. Kerr tasted glory after a dramatic jump-off with McEwen. Both men managed bests of 2.36m in regular competition, but could not be separated on countback of missed jumps.
They opted for a jump-off, Kerr clearing 2.34m when the American failed after the bar was lowered from 2.38m to 2.36m. “I was just in shock. Both me and Shelby were getting a little bit tired after all the jumps we took,” said Kerr. “I knew I had a good one in me, and I knew that if I could get it up sooner rather than later, then I could just finish the comp and start recovering.”
The discussion Kerr and McEwen shared with officials was short and to the point: both athletes wanted to continue, there was to be no shared gold.
“We’re good buddies, good opponents, and good jumpers when we jump together,” McEwen said of Kerr. “He said he wanted to face off, and I was all for it. We faced off until the last battle and he came out on top, so salute, congratulations to him. I know I will be back, stronger and fit, better than ever. I’m just ready to celebrate this moment.”
When McEwen missed his attempt at 2.34m in the jump-off, world indoor champion Kerr had his chance and took it with aplomb. “High jump’s always a rollercoaster, there’s always guys who will miss and then clear, and then miss,” Kerr said. “The big thing that we’ve been working on personally, and me and my team, is it’s not over until it’s over.”
McEwen said it felt “amazing” to have bagged silver. “It’s just a blessing and honour to be able to be here completely healthy and get our first Olympic medal (in this event) in a long time,” the American said. “I feed off the crowd, and I jumped my way to a personal best. No better than that.”
