‘Woo Sang Hyuk rival’ Barshim seeks fourth straight win…”I’m ready”

Woo Sang-hyuk (27, Yongin City Hall)’s rival Mutaz Essa Barshim (32, Qatar), who is considered the “best jumper in the world,” has responded to concerns that he hasn’t competed much this season by saying, “I’ve been working hard even while I wasn’t competing.

“It’s true that I haven’t run many races this season, but I’ve prepared well,” he said in an interview released by the Budapest 2023 World Athletics Championships Organizing Committee on Monday (18 June). “I’ve run a few races recently to check my fitness. I’m a player who knows what to do and when to do it.”

Varshim has only competed in four meets this season.

Woo Sang-hyuk, who will compete with Barsim for the men’s high jump title at the World Championships, has competed in nine official competitions this year.

After suffering serious back and calf injuries in 2017, Barsim has been playing it safe since then.

Despite not competing as much, Barshim is still considered one of the best jumpers in the world.

She holds the second-best all-time mark of 2.43 meters, and this year she set a season’s best of 2.36 meters.

Barshim won three consecutive world titles in London in 2017 (2.35m), Doha in 2019 (2.37m) and Eugene in 2022 (2.37m). The runner-up in Eugene in 2022 was Woo Sang-hyuk, who cleared 2.35 meters.

“Sometimes training speaks volumes,” said Barsim. “Sometimes training speaks louder than results,” said Barshim. “Even when I wasn’t competing, I was training hard. I always tried to make today better than yesterday, and I fought against adversity, including injuries, to win.”

“I’m in Budapest now,” he added, “and I don’t know what the outcome will be, but I’m going to give it my best shot,” as he looks to win his fourth consecutive World Championships title.

The men’s high jump preliminaries at the Budapest World Championships will take place on Tuesday at 5:35 p.m. ET at the National Athletics Stadium in Budapest, Hungary.

A total of 37 athletes have qualified for the men’s high jump.

The 37 athletes will compete in two groups, and those who clear the automatic qualifying mark of 2.30 meters or finish in the top 12 regardless of group will advance to the final, which will begin at 2:58 a.m. ET on March 23.

If the top 12 are eliminated before the 2.30 is attempted, the heats will be over.

At the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, the automatic qualifying mark for the final was 2.30m, but qualifying ended with 13 finalists, including a tie for 12th at 2.28m.

At last year’s World Championships qualifiers, Woo needed just four jumps to reach the final, clearing 2.17, 2.21, 2.25 and 2.28 in the first round. In the final, he cleared 2.35 to finish second.

It was the best World Championships performance by a Korean athlete since Kim Hyun-seop, who won bronze in the men’s 20 kilometers at Daegu in 2011.

In Budapest this year, Woo will look to win the first world title for South Korean athletics.

Barshim, a three-time world champion, Jubon Harrison (USA), who has won three Diamond League titles this year, and Woo are the favorites to win the title.

Armed 먹튀검증 with thorough preparation and confidence, ‘Smile Jumper’ Woo Sang-hyuk posed for a ‘commemorative photo’ with his coach Kim Do-gyun at the Budapest National Athletics Stadium on the 19th.