Mutaz Essa Barshim

Mutaz Barshim has mastered the art of defying gravity. The high jumper has become a benchmark in the realm of track & field, claiming world championships, gold medals, and breaking records.

Date of Birth: June 24, 1991
Place of Birth: Doha, Qatar
Age: 33
Nationality: Qatari
Start of Sporting Career: 2010
Sport: High Jump

Mutaz Barshim is a Qatari High Jump Athlete currently taking the world of sports by storm.

Rewriting history in 2022, Mutaz clinched the 1st place at that year’s IAAF World Athletics in Oregon, USA, becoming the first athlete in the history of the sport to hold the High Jump world title three consecutive times, preceding that with the world title at Birmingham UK in 2017 and Doha in 2019. His 2019 achievement marked a major comeback after a long recovery journey from a career-threatening injury he faced in July 2018, keeping him off the track & field for one year.

In 2023, Mutaz continued his achievements by claiming first place in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, as well as the West Asian Championships, and third place in the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. In the Diamond League, he secured first place in both Chorzow, Poland, and Zurich, Switzerland, second place in London, and third in Doha. Another notable achievement was in 2022, with his first-place finish at the GCC Games in Kuwait and another at the World Champions in UAE. In the Diamond League that year, he claimed first place in Monaco, and second in both Lausanne and Doha.

In 2021, Mutaz’s name was etched in gold yet again, as he brought himself the legendary win with a gold medal at the big games in Tokyo.

In 2012, Mutaz’s traction came to a temporary halt from a stress fracture in his back, an injury that required absolute rest and recovery. However, with the Big Games on the horizon, he pushed himself to the very limit and trained in cycles, giving himself sufficient time and space to recover before competing. With the support of his coach, Stanislaw Szczyrba, the young phenom went on to achieve a silver medal at the London in 2012 and another silver in Rio in 2016.

More legendary achievements from the world champion include the 2017 IAAF Diamond League Championship, undefeated for the whole season, marking himself as the first high jumper to do so since 2004.

Mutaz is one of those athletes who were destined to come into fame at an early career. For him, taking on Track & Field felt natural. His father was a professional middle-distance runner that retired to coach at a local club where he began bringing his children along to practice. Yes, he was inducted to the sport by his father but the passion and drive led Mutaz to seek growth for himself.

Mutaz started off with Race Walking and as a distance runner. He was greatly influenced by his father’s legacy. At the age of 11 he discovered his passion for high jump, and it took him some time to unveil his raw talent. From there he went on to claim the World Junior Championship. Mutaz displayed explosive potential and everybody knew that it had to be harnessed.

After graduating from Aspire Academy, he met his Polish/Swedish coach who inspired him to strive for greatness and to always push for new heights. They have since been a dynamic duo, bound to write sports history together. At 19, Mutaz was already earning international recognition. In 2010, he went on to set national and regional records as the Asian Games gold medalist. For Mutaz this was just the beginning.

Mutaz believes in following a passion and working hard to fulfill it with all the dedication one can have. To him, patience is the key as many challenges will come along the way. One will fall so many times during the path towards an achievement. The most important thing is to make sure to stand up tall again after every fall and work even harder for it.

“I do what I love in the best way possible.” – Mutaz Barshim