Mutaz Essa Barshim after winning the mens' high jump during the 2018 Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field on May 26, 2018 in Eugene. (Oregon Craig Mitchelldyer / Getty Images / AFP)
Doha: In favourable conditions everyone can shine but true champions rise against the odds.
Qatar’s track and field star Mutaz Barshim has embarked on exactly the same mission as he took his first step following an ankle surgery that ruled him out for months – at least for the remaining of the season.
The gravity-defying high jumper shared a short hospital clip on his Twitter account in which he was seen stepping down from stairs with the help of a doctor and crutches.
“Where there is a will there is a way. first step After the surgery, target is world championships Doha 2019,” the 2017 IAAF’s World-Athlete-of-the-Year (@mutazbarshim) tweeted yesterday.
Barshim, 27, suffered an ankle sprain injury which led to damaged ligaments while attempting to set a new world record height of 2.46 metres, after clearing a 2018 world-leading 2.40m in Hungary on July 2.
“I’m not anxious. I received positive news from my doctors and the most important thing for me is to recover from injury and be fit 100 percent so that I can jump again,” Barshim had earlier said in a statement.
Barshim won the IAAF World Athletics Championships in London and will be hoping to defend his title at home when Doha will the event from September 28 to October 6 at Khalifa International Stadium next year.
The Qatari star has won two Olympic medals which include silver at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and a bronze at the London Games in 2012 and was the hot favourite to win gold medal for Qatar at next month’s Asian Games in Indonesia.
He is also tipped to be a new record holder as Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor recently said that he only sees Barshim beating his 2.45m mark, set on July 27, 1993.
“If I had to give a name for the person most likely to break the record, it’s (Barshim),” said the Cuban, who is the only one ever to jump an 8-plus-feet height.
