WRITTEN FOR THE BISLETT GAMES MEDIA TEAM.
World indoor champion, Mutaz Essa Barshim has been close to the world high jump record on several occasions of late, and the ExxonMobil Bislett Games organisers are hoping he can finally achieve his career goal in what would be the ultimate commemoration of the event’s 50th anniversary tomorrow evening.
The 23-year-old Qatari athlete will attack the 22-year-old 2.45m global best mark which is held by Cuban, Javier Sotomayor who will be present in the Bislett Stadion to cheer his young pretender on in the Norwegian capital on Thursday.
In a competition that is set to deliver fireworks and a thrilling battle with Barshim’s arch-rival, Bogdan Bondarenko – the world outdoor silver medallist revealed at the pre-event press conference in Oslo’s City Hall:
“I’m happy to be here for the first time – there’s a lot of buzz around the high jump here, which is good as it motivates us and it’s good for the event.
“I’ll try to have a good time and get a good result. I love interacting with the crowd – getting their support keeps me on top of my game.”
The Olympic bronze medallist – with a 2.43m lifetime best from last summer and a season’s best of 2.41 – continued:
“I want to put on a good show and fight but you always have to consider clearing the smaller heights first.
“I believe I can do it – it’ll come sooner or later. It would be extra special to break the record with Javier here but I also kind of don’t want to break it when he’s there – though, if I do it elsewhere, I’ll still send him the video!”
The winner in both the Shanghai and Eugene stages of the IAAF Diamond League series before the sixth leg of the worldwide competition in Oslo, Barshim explained:
“I’m doing the same training as I have done for the past year and a half as I believe you shouldn’t change anything when you are going for the world record.
“You need time to get there but tomorrow will be a great competition with great atmosphere so it could happen. I’ve heard the weather will be good so we’ll have all we need.”
Despite a blip on his resume with a recent 2.20m third place finish in the Asian Championships, Barshim is confident of reaching his usual heights and extending his 9-8 winning margin over Bondarenko:
“I think I was too afraid (at the Asian Champs) because I was scared of getting injured especially when I’m in such good shape and in World Championship year,” he said.
“I don’t put the bar high in training – maybe only at 2.15/2.20m – instead, I concentrate on the little details as there’s no need to push yourself that much in training. I know I’m in top form now, though,” revealed the man with a 2.35m training best.
With the high jump bed arranged to be moved closer to the crowd, Barshim continued:
“It’ll be great to be closer to the crowd here, having the people really involved with us.
“The IAAF World Championships (in Beijing in August) will be about the result but these Diamond Leagues are all about the height and I hope to get it tomorrow.”
Bodarenko, meanwhile, is keen to revise his current summer form having only cleared 2.37m this outdoor campaign.
The 25-year-old Ukrainian has a fine 2.42m lifetime best from thirteen months ago and having placed second in Shanghai recently, the world and European champion is determined to return to his best competitive shape:
“My season’s best should be better than it is and I hope to improve it tomorrow. A meeting record (of at least 2.37m) would also satisfy me.”
Russia’s Olympic champion, Ivan Ukhov was also in attendance and the 29-year-old world indoor silver medallist will be looking to progress from his fourth place position in Eugene last month.
With a 2.41m best from May 2014, the 2010 champion in Oslo explained:
“Everything is ok with me – I’ve only had one competition this season but I am confident that I will jump well tomorrow. All I hope is to be better than them (Barshim and Bondarenko)!”
Sotomayor – the 1992 Olympic champion and six-time world champion – is also the meeting record holder with his 1989 2.37m leap and the 47-year-old gave his opinion on today’s crop of high jump stars:
“It’s now a very good generation of jumpers – I think they can jump higher than my record,” he exclaimed.
“No record is forever so I’m ready for it to go. They have all had very good seasons lately so it can happen any day, though I’d prefer them not to break it!”
Bislett Games meeting director, Steinar Hoen – the 1994 European champion – meanwhile, spoke of his happy memories of competing in Oslo:
“My best memory from competing in Oslo was when I broke the national record with 2.35m in 1994, I also won in 1997 with 2.33m,” he revealed.
A two-time winner of the event, Hoen counts beating Sotomayor indoors in Berlin in 1995 with his still-standing 2.36m Norwegian record as a career highlight.
The 44-year-old too provided his opinion on the current crème de la crème of global high jumpers:
“The jumper’s today are better than we were in the 90’s even though the world record still stands – there’s so many athletes jumping around 2.40m today and I think five or six guys who can jump that this summer,” he said.
“I think the world record will be broken soon as they need to be on top of their game just to win nowadays.”
On the new high jump position inside the stadium, Hoen continued:
“We have no pole vault this year so the high jump will be in a better area of the stadium with better conditions.
“We have put the high jump bed where the wind is optimal and the athletes will be even closer to the public so it will feel like a high jump gala – very intimate so expect something special tomorrow.
“I hope we will see a new stadium record and the first ever jump of 2.40m here in Norway.”
