Athletics
Get someone who elevates you like Stanislaw Szczyrba does Mutaz Barshim
Working relationships don’t get much more intense than between athlete and coach. High jumper Mutaz Barshim talks about his bond with Stanislaw Szczyrba.
It was his future coach, Stanislaw Szczyrba (pictured above with Barshim), who first recognised high jumper Mutaz Barshim’s enormous talent. The Qatari world champion was just 19, messing around with friends with a basketball before a training session and took a jump towards the hoop.
“He came up to me and said, ‘Listen, that jump is Olympic level’,” Barshim recalled.
The Polish coach, who'd been invited to Qatar to see a bunch of players, really took an interest in him. He told the teenager, “I know you can be somebody... this talent that you have – you must use it. You could be a champion.”
Fast forward 12 years and the pair are still working together and reaching those heights.
Barshim has two world titles: a bronze from London and a silver from Rio. In July he heads to Tokyo, where he's a contender for the gold.
Barshim is a two-time world champion
© Jiro Mochizuki / Red Bull Content Pool
“My coach and I have something that's really special. We've been working together for so long and it's only getting better, to be honest,” the 30-year-old said.
“At the beginning it was really difficult. I was a teenager and he was so professional… I thought this guy and me would never work together. I'd just finished high school, was trying to enjoy my life and didn’t take anything too seriously.”
But after just one training camp with Szczyrba more than 10 years ago, Barshim went from a personal best of 2.14m to 2.25m.
There's plenty of mutual trust between Barshim and Szczyrba
© Flo Hagena / Red Bull Content Pool
“I thought: ‘he knows what he's doing.’ I trusted him and respected him for hard work and dedication. He became a role model to me, schooling me, taking me like his son. I look at him as my second father.
“Now I know how to get motivated and he knows how to get the best out of me. He's always challenging me. He's a genius at finding new ways whenever something doesn’t work.”
Last year both men had to contend with the completely unexpected – athletics competitions being cancelled or postponed as the pandemic hit.
“It was little bit unreal, the first time in my life without a target, so we’ve basically been training or trying to do as much as possible, with limited access to facilities,” said Barshim.
Mutaz Barshim registered the second-highest jump in history in 2014
© Aaron Rogosin/Red Bull Content Pool
Szczyrba took him to the Tatra mountains of southern Poland to the town of Zakopane, to train and focus in a natural idyll of peaks and forests – a world away from the hot desert of Doha.
On their frequent long trips, Barshim loves hearing about his 75-year-old coach’s memories.
“He has so many stories to tell, it's just fascinating. Always listen to old people – they know, they've been through experiences in life. If I think something has happened to me, he's been there 10 times before!”
Szczyrba grew up behind the Iron Curtain in communist Poland, at a time when every international sporting competition was an ideological battle.
Barshim has picked up plenty of trophies throughout his career
© Flo Hagena/Red Bull Content Pool
“Back then, athletes couldn’t choose things for themselves – it was decided for them. For me that's ridiculous and unimaginable,” said Barshim.
There's much to emulate from Barshim’s relationship with his coach and the 30-year-old has tips for young athletes on how to recognise when the fit is right.
“You have to find someone you really trust. You need mutual respect and must be willing to work together. The coach you feel most comfortable with, open up to – that's the right person.”
“Coaching involves a lot of technicalities, a lot of knowledge, but it also has a psychological side and that's the most important. When everything goes well it's fine. But when things go wrong, that's when you need that special relationship, when someone can uplift you and knows the right moment to help you.”
In his long-term future, Barshim thinks he might one day coach himself.
“I love high jump so much. It's my passion. Once you’ve inspired many people and people think about you as a role model, I see there is joy in this. I feel like it's right to give back.”