Qatar’s Barshim clinches bronze in Olympic swansong
The Peninsula
Doha: Qatar s Mutaz Barshim ended his highly successful Olympic career with a bronze medal, leaping to his season s best of 2.34m in the high jump fin...
Doha: Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim ended his highly successful Olympic career with a bronze medal, leaping to his season’s best of 2.34m in the high jump final at Stade de France on Saturday.
New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr edged America’s McEwen Shelby in the jump-off to win gold medal after both failed to go beyond the 2.36m mark.
For Barshim, it was his fourth Olympic medal, having won silver medals at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games besides a famous gold medal triumph at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
The 33-year-old, who clinched an unprecedented three straight world titles, was hoping to make history by becoming the first high jump athlete to win two Olympic gold medals.
He got off to a soaring start clearing 2.22m, 2.27m, 2.31m and 2.34m in first attempts before failing twice to clear 2.36m. He raised the bar at 2.38m for his last attempt but failed again to settle for a bronze.
