Arab News
TOKYO: Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim won his country’s first Olympic track and field gold medal in the high jump on Sunday.
Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi both recorded a best clearance of 2.37 meters, which meant they ended up with a rare shared title.
Both athletes said they were in dreamland as they put behind them the nightmare of serious injuries to claim the top prize.
Barshim, though, missed out on a share of the gold because of an earlier failure.
The jubilant duo declined the chance of winning the title outright by turning down a jump-off.
For Barshim, 30, it completes a full house of Olympic medals having taken bronze in London in 2012 and silver in Rio five years ago.
Barshim missed a large part of 2018 with a serious ankle injury, bouncing back to win world outdoor gold on home soil in 2019.
“This is a dream I don’t want to wake up from,” he said. “I have been through a lot. It’s been five years that I have been waiting, with injuries and a lot of set-backs.
“But we are here today sharing this moment and all the sacrifices. It’s really worth it now in this moment.”
Elsewhere at the Games, a few hours before Barshim, it was another first for Qatar after weightlifter Faris Ibrahim El-Bakh won the country’s first ever gold medal in the Men’s 96kg weightlifting competition.
His historic achievement came after lifting a total of 402kg, which set a new Olympic record in the process.
Venezuelan Villanilla Sanchez finished second whilst while the bronze went to Georgian Plisnoll Anton.
* With AFP