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Doha, Qatar: The reigning world high jump champion Mutaz Essa Barshim will lead the Qatar team at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest 2023 which will be held from August 19-27, Qatar Athletics Federation announced yesterday.
The three-time world champion, Barshim will be aiming to make it four in a row after winning the prestigious title at the 2017 London, 2019 Doha and 2022 Eugene World Championships, while Bassem Hemeida (400m hurdles) and Moaaz Mohamed (discus throw) will also be seen in action at the brand new National Athletics Centre in Budapest.
The 32-year-old Barshim is once again a front runner in the race for the World title, and has already posted the world’s leading mark this season, an impressive 2.36m at the Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial Diamond League meet in Chorzow, Poland, last month.
He then recorded a 2.33-metre mark at the London Diamond League despite finishing second behind American JuVaughn Harrision. However, the reigning Olympic title-holder Barshim will not only set his eyes on winning an unprecedented fourth World gold in a row, but also the world record in this pet event, held by Cuban great Javier Sotomayor since 1993.
Barshim came close to beating Sotomayor’s 2.45m mark in Brussels in 2014, but got injured while attempting to clear the bar at 2.46m.
The winning height in the high jump at the last three worlds championships (Eugene, Tokyo and Doha) - has been 2.37m.
Barshim’s teammate, Hemeida will also try to make his presence felt at the Worlds, competing in the one lap hurdles event in the absence of compatriot Abderrahman Samba who missed most part of the season due to an injury.
Hemeida is a former Asian Athletics Championships gold winner, and has a personal best of 48.64 secs which places him in the top 30 in the world this season.
The third member of the Qatar team, Mohamed is a former U-20 World and Asian champion, with a personal best of 62.48 metres. The Qatar contingent, sponsored by the Seashore Group and PUMA, will be led by Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF) President Mohamed Issa Al Fadala who will also attend the World Athletics meetings along with Issa Abdullah Al Harami, Secretary General of the Federation. The delegation also includes Talal Mansour, Khalifa Abdul Malik, Khaled Al Marri and trainer Massimo.
Meanwhile, the medals of the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 were unveiled yesterday, with 10 days to go until the competition begins.
"Deviating from traditional medal designs, the emphasis was placed on representing the host country and capturing the essence of a sporting nation," World Athletics said on its web site.
