OlympicTalk · Aug 20, 2017
Qatar’s Barshim sets season’s best high jump record in Birmingham
Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim, who astonished the track and field world with his non-traditional hurdling technique on his way to becoming the reigning world champion in high jump this August, one-upped himself in Birmingham when he soared over the bar set to 2.40 meters. That’s just a smidge over 7 feet, 10 inches!
The men’s outdoor high jump world record is currently 2.45m, set by Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor in 1993.
At the 2017 Worlds, the 6-foot-2 Barshim cleared the bar at about 6 feet, 4 inches with his now famous feet-first maneuver.
At Birmingham’s Diamond League event his technique may have been conventional, but his final leap was no less breathtaking.