Birmingham Diary, Day One: Mutaz Essa Barshim takes the silver, here’s our interview!

The high jump was featured on Thursday night, the opening night.

Seb Coe, the President of the IAAF, told @runblogrun that they took the field event feature from Portland 2016. “It was a great feature from Portland, and we used that idea.” noted the smiling President, after two days of great performances (watch for our exclusive blog video with Lord Coe).

The high jump had one jump by a women jumper, then a man.

And then, the heights grew and field dropped to eight, then, six, and then, there were two.

Mutaz Essa Barshim and wicked gravity, photo by PhotoRun.net

At 2.36 meters, Mutaz Essa Barshim was flawless. Danil Lysenko, the 20 year old ANA athlete, had a miss. But, as we know, our sport is all about performance. Mutaz missed at 2.36 meters, then Danil missed at the same height. Mutaz then missed on his second attempt, and so did Danil.

On the third attempt, Mutaz Essa Barshim missed at 2.36 meters. If Danil Lysenko missed at the third attempt, then there would be a jump off.

On the third attempt, Danil Lysenko cleared 2.36 meters, and he became the gold medalist.

Mutaz Essa Barshim became the silver medalist.

Mutaz won the London 2017 Outdoor World Champs and his silver medal here will be added to the collection.

What makes Mutaz Essa Barshim tick? This man is a superstar in Qatar, his homeland. His ability to jump is a rarefied skill and he wants big heights. Last summer he saved the cross bar from his two big clearances, one at 2.38 meters and one at 2.40 meters. Mutaz is a tough competitor, but he knows, that there are moments that are his, and there are moments that are not.

Here is our inteview of this man who defies gravity!