Mutaz Essa Barsim (32, Qatar) showed his strong will to win the high jump title at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

In an interview reported by Qatari daily newspaper ‘Alaya’, Barshim said, “My top priority is winning a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games. “Winning the Diamond League Final is also a goal, but the Asian Games are very important,” he said.

The ‘Diamond League’ is a competition organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations, next to the World Championships. Barsim is the all-time winner of the men’s high jump, having reached the top in the 2014, 2015, and 2017 seasons.스포츠토토

The 2023 Diamond League Finals will be held on September 17-18 (hereinafter Korean time) at Hayward Field (capacity 12,650) at the University of Oregon. The track and field events at the Hangzhou Asian Games are scheduled for September 29 to October 5.

Barsim said, “At this point, our plans for the remainder of the season include participating in the Diamond League Finals,” but added, “The Asian Games are more important than anything else. “I will make the final decision after discussing it with my agent,” he added.

This means that if you are worried about injuries ahead of the Hangzhou Asian Games or the short travel distance from the United States to China, you may give up participating in the Diamond League Finals.

In the TOP 10 high jump world rankings updated by the International Association of Athletics Federations on September 6, ▲3rd place Barshim, 4th place Sanghyuk Woo (27), and 8th place Ryoichi Akamatsu (28, Japan) will compete in the Hangzhou Asian Games.

Barsim won two consecutive high jump titles at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games. The 2018 Indonesian Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, in which Woo Sang-hyuk won a silver medal, were held without Barsim.

Barsim is the Greatest of All Time in high jump, winning gold medals at ▲World Youth Championships ▲Asian Youth Championships ▲Asian Indoor Championships ▲Military World Championships ▲Arab Games ▲Asian Championships ▲World Indoor Championships ▲World Championships ▲Tokyo Olympics.

The Athlete of the Year, selected by Track and Field News, an American monthly magazine with 75 years of history, is considered the highest honor in track and field. There are only two men’s high jump winners: Bohdan Bondarenko (34, Ukraine) in 2013 and Barsim in 2017.

Barsim has won the Olympic Games, World Outdoor Championships, and World Indoor Championships five times, overwhelming Bondarenko, who only won the gold medal at the 2013 World Outdoor Championships, in terms of winning major high jump championships.

Sanghyuk Woo is a gold medalist at the 2013 World Youth Championships, 2017 Asian Championships, and 2022 World Indoor Championships. He also won a silver medal at the 2022 World Championships, a silver medal at the 2023 Asian Indoor Championships, and a bronze medal at the 2014 World Youth Championships.