Qatar Defies Gravity With Their Star Mutaz Barshim

Qatari Mutaz Barshim was crowned champion of the first edition of the “Defying Gravity” high jump championship held in Doha, earning his first gold medal of the season. This follows his second-place finishes in the Xiamen and Shanghai rounds of the Diamond League in China last April.

In front of crowds gathered at the Open Roman Theater in Katara, Mutaz Barshim, the gold medalist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (shared with Italian Gianmarco Tampere) and three-time world champion, finished first place with a jump of 2.31 metres.

Barshim advanced on the basis of performing fewer attempts than South Korean Woo Sang-hyuk, while American Jovon Harrison, silver medalist at the Budapest 2023 World Championships, settled for third place with a jump of 2.28 meters.

Barshim stated that this tournament is not part of his preparation for the Olympic Games scheduled for Paris next summer, explaining, “Preparation for Paris begins next week, but this tournament is very important because it reveals to me where I stand now and what mistakes I must correct.”

The creator of the “Defying Gravity” tournament added, “The Olympic season is very long, and winning was very necessary. This is my best performance this season.”

Regarding his satisfaction with his result, Barshim, the gold medalist at the recent Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, continued, “I am certainly satisfied. The most important thing in such competitions is to win. We won the first edition, and it will remain in Doha. I always promise the fans the best.”

Barshim confirmed that the concept of the “Gravity Challenge Championship” revolves around hosting tournaments in multiple cities around the world in future seasons.

Barshim, who has a personal record of 2.43 meters, the second-best jump in history, announced when the first edition was unveiled last February that “the championship will be included in the IAAF calendar after receiving silver classification, the highest classification an emerging championship can obtain.”

Barshim, 32, revealed that he derived the name of the tournament, “Gravity Challenge,” from the jumper’s ultimate goal of surpassing the bar with a higher jump, which is more a challenge against gravity than against competitors. He emphasized, “While competition between champions is important for improving jumps, the fundamental challenge is to defy gravity itself.”
The tournament, graced by the presence of Cuban Javier Sotomayor, the record holder for the high jump at 2.45 meters, featured the participation of the world’s most distinguished high jump champions from the last decade.