QATAR’S Mutaz Essa Barshim took the Asian Games high jump gold with ease yesterday, but passed on a shot at the 21-year-old world record on a cold, wet night in South Korea.
The 23-year-old had set his sights on Cuban Javier Sotomayer’s record of 2.45 metres after clearing 2.43m in the Diamond League earlier this month to become the second highest man of all time.
A jump of 2.35 was enough to secure him gold in Incheon and break the 32-year-old Asiad record, and after failing twice at 2.40m, Mutaz decided enough was enough.
The 6ft 2in (1.89 metre) Olympic bronze medallist said he was not ready to try for the record yet.
“You have to listen to your body, I dont want to be greedy, it’s step by step,” he said. “I’m still young, I just need time to get the experience and maybe a little bit stronger. I think it’s a little bit soon.”
China’s Zhang Guowei could not find the spring to match the 2.35, that Mutaz had cleared with ease and settled for silver.
To add to the joy in the Barshim household, bronze went to the Qatari’s younger brother Muamer, later seen sporting a cap with the slogan “What gravity, huh?”
There was more gold for the Gulf state as Mohamad Al-Garni delivered on his promise to add the men’s 1,500m to the 5,000m title he won on Saturday, outpacing Bahrain’s former world champion Rashid Ramzi in an exhilarating sprint over the last 200 metres.
After crossing the line in three minutes 40.23 seconds an elated Mohamad turned and embraced fellow Moroccan-born runner Rashid, who was stripped of the gold he won at the 2008 Olympics and banned for two years after testing positive for banned blood booster EPO-CERA.
Mohamad said he had skipped races in Europe to focus on the Games and now aimed to run under 3:30 — four seconds below his current best — in readiness for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“I want to win in at the Olympics in two years and I have to start from this moment. I have to work from now. I have to concentrate to train hard and impossibility is nothing. I can do it,” he said.
There was a Bahraini one-two in the women’s 1,500m as Olympic bronze medallist Maryam Yusuf Jamal added another gold medal to her collection.
The 30-year-old two-time world champion, who now has three Asian Games gold in the 1,500m and one in the 800m, admitted she had to dig deep to beat teammate Mimi Belete.
“My body was exhausted, but it came back in the last 200 metres. I am looking forward to the 5,000m race,” she said.
India’s Commonwealth Games silver medallist Seema Punia threw 61.03m, just short of her season’s best, to win the women’s discus.
Strong showings in the shot, javelin and 800m saw Uzbekistan’s Ekaterina Voronina to gold in the heptathlon, while Maria Londa of Indonesia achieved a personal best 6.55m to scoop a surprise gold in the long jump. AFP