Athletics
How Mutaz Barshim defies gravity and high jump expectations for a living
Mutaz Barshim is the athlete who shared high jump gold in Tokyo – learn how he isn’t only a record-holding and decorated high-jumper, but an all-round nice guy, too.
There are few professional athletes who train their entire life for a gold medal and then, having won that gold medal at the world’s biggest sporting event, elect to share the prize with their closest rival.
Splitting top billing in Tokyo with Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi is just one reason why Qatari high-jumper Mutaz Barshim is a certified – and yes, gold-plated – legend in his sport.
The thing is, as well as being one of the nicest athletes on the planet, Barshim is also one of the most accomplished. As well as multiple Olympic trinkets, he also holds the Asian high jumping record and has claimed the second-highest high jump in history at a very high indeed 2.43m.
Mutaz Barshim training in Doha
© Amr Elmasry/Red Bull Content Pool
A few things you need to know about Barshim:
- He jumps from his left foot, utilising the Fosbury Flop high jump technique, favouring an unusual backwards arch over the bar.
- He claimed the very first hat-trick of high jump world titles in Eugene, Oregon, in 2022.
- He loves watching cartoons, particularly the Pink Panther, which helps him relax.
- He is the older brother of the Al-Sadd and Qatar national goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham.
- He regularly posts lovingly about his “rival buddy” Tamberi online.
“Sport is everything for me,” Mutaz enthuses. “It’s my lifestyle, my job, my fun and my health. When I jump, I feel amazing, like I’m flying!”
Here’s what else you need to know.
01
His talents were discovered on the basketball court
Barshim grew up in a sporty family: his father was an athlete, and all his brothers practised sports from basketball to football. Barshim’s father would take him along to the local athletics club, and from the age of 11-years-old Barshim would go train there by himself, quickly developing a passion for high jump.
A few years later, he snuck off to play a game of basketball. His high jump coach spotted something in Barshim's leaps to the hoop.
“I didn’t know he was there,” he recalls. “I never would have done that as he would be mad. And I see his eyes just change. He came up to me, ‘this is a 2.30m jump right here’.” It was enough to dissuade him from taking up his university degree to focus fully on the high jump.
By the time he was 19, Barshim had racked up a host of Junior Level titles, including four gold medals – one of which was at the World Championships – and earning the title of the 10th best Junior high jumper in history.
Not that Barshim would brag about it: “As a kid, I did race walking, triple jump, long jump, 110m hurdles, a lot of things. I’ve done it all. I was not good at anything to be honest, not even high jump,” he says.
Mutaz Barshim at a training session in Qatar
© Dan Vojtech/Red Bull Content Pool
02
He credits his father as a driving force
“My father is 100 percent a sport person,” Barshim says. “Since we were kids he was always taking us to the track or making some sports contest for us, making us race against each other. He’s the reason I do sport in the first place, and all my brothers and sisters. He’s so passionate about it. His life is athletics, I got that from him.I wanted to be like him so bad.”
03
His focus is always on the next victory
Most people in Barshim’s position might elect to take it easy. But despite having a stacked collection of medals and trophies from his illustrious career, reflecting on his achievements isn’t generally something Barshim allows himself to do.
“I’ve never been the type of person to look at what I’ve achieved,” he says. “I always have targets that I’m working towards and I want to achieve as much as possible during my sports career. Once I achieve something, I’m like nice, celebrate it, appreciate it, but, OK what’s next?”
"Once I achieve a goal, or win a trophy or medal I put it back in the closet and keep moving,” he adds. “If you come to my house you won’t see anything from my career on my walls. You probably wouldn’t even think I lived there.”
The reason makes a lot of sense: "I don’t want the satisfaction of seeing what I have achieved while I am still active.”
Just once, however, Barshim did allow some pride to seep in: “Recently I thought to myself, ‘I need a moment to be grateful here.’ I took all my medals, and put them next to my bed, and kept them there all night. I was looking at them and reflecting. If I am allowed to say it, I am proud of myself,” he says with a laugh.
Training for perfection
© Akl Yazbeck/Red Bull Content Pool
04
Nailing a jump feels like flying… then crashing
Barshim likens his bigger clearances to taking flight. “I feel like time is moving slowly,” he says. “You almost pause time. It’s an amazing feeling.”
Naturally, the comedown is harsher: “When you finish competing, you feel like you’ve been run over by a truck,” he laughs. “The next morning, you can barely walk.”
Every competition has a different training focus, but Barshim prefers walking out onto the track, ready to compete:
“This is the moment to enjoy because the work is done,” he says. “I don’t get nervous anymore and I hate that. For me, being nervous means I care and it gives me that adrenalin. I’ve been doing it for so long, the last time I was nervous I don’t remember. [Now] when I’m on the track before a competition I’m chilling, I’m happy, I’m here again, let’s go.”
More than an athlete
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
05
He has a passion for art, design and graffiti
When he isn’t leaping to new heights, Barshim likes nothing better than a bit of culture.
“I love art, I love street graffiti art, I like fashion,” he enthuses. “I appreciate quality things in life in general. Something that brings me joy is important to me. I like designing a lot; I like decorating a lot. I always end up designing some rooms.”
As for his long-term ambitions, well: "I would also quite like to take part in a Hollywood movie at some point,” he laughs. “I think I could do action-comedy!”
Mutaz Barshim mid-flight over the high jump
© Flo Hagena/Red Bull Content Pool
06
His idol is Muhammad Ali
The former Cassius Clay stands out as Barshim’s sporting hero. “I just like his style,” he says of the all-time boxing great. “His sport is very tough. He made boxing fun, not just about the sport. The way he switched on his mentality, that’s something I looked up to.”
As for living legends, Barshim says his long-term coach still inspires him, a decade plus on from that basketball court. “Our relationship is so unique,” Barshim says. “The way we’ve been working and the way he taught me to work. It doesn’t matter if you have the greatest coach if the athlete’s not willing to sacrifice and give it everything or athlete is so talented and the coach is not as good at seeing stuff.”
Gianmarco Tamberi in action in Ancona
© Fabrizio Zani
07
Rivals like Gianmarco Tamberi are family first and rivals second
High jump rival and real life pal Gianmarco Tamberi is important to Barshim, as are most competitors in the high-stress, high-stakes world of high jumping.
“In high jump, the way we look at each other, we’re like family,” Barshim says of his medal-share with Tamberi. “Of course, when it’s time to compete everyone gets in the zone and you don’t want to bother them, but we’re still cheering for them because my real competition is with that bar. You guys we compete but you’re not really my enemy.”
He explains that the camaraderie among his rivals creates “a good friendship rivalry” and one that is unusual in other spots: “Runners don’t do this kind of things. It’s just jumpers,” he says. “My opponents are still my rivals, we push each other and want to beat each other to the top step. We’re like family.”
If he really had to name a number one rival, Barshim wouldn’t name Tamberi or Ukraine’s Bohdan Bondarenko who holds a 2.42 m PB, – or even world indoor champion Hamish Kerr – but himself: “My favourite rival is myself,” Barshim admits. “I love it when you compete at such a high level you don’t know how high the bar is until you finish competing. You just want to win. I just want to be the last man standing.”
08
He believes he can fly higher than any human in history
Barshim boasts the second-highest jump in history at 2.43m but believes the world record of 2.45m (set by Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor in 1993) is just waiting to be beaten.
“I feel like we’re in an era where 2.47/8m is possible,” Barshim says. But it’s very difficult to maintain such a high performance without taking risks; everyone who has jumped 2.40 plus got injured. There’s so much pressure on the body and it can only take so much.”
"Before I retire I would love to be the world record holder,” he continues. “Sometimes we train a full year to go 1cm higher.”
He sighs: “The better you get though, the more difficult it is. Only one person in the universe has jumped higher than me, and that extra couple of cm might require three of four years of hard work and dedication. It is doable; I don’t believe in something being impossible.”
Listen to our exclusive podcast interview with Mutaz Barshim here:
09
There’s nowhere his career can’t go
Having found high jump as a child, there was no guarantee that Barshim would stick with it. At first, even Barshim wasn’t sure he’d stick with it.
“When I started, this was my hobby,” he says. “But it became my passion and I want to be great at something that I really love. I take high jump very serious. I’m a very competitive person. I always want to be in the most difficult situations. When I’m out there I want to perform. I’d rather lose with 2.35/2.37 than win with 2.30. I miss it when I’m off-season. As more time goes by, the more time I want to enjoy it as much as possible.”
And, it seems, for as long as possible: “To be able to achieve so much and be able to actually deliver and inspire people, travel the world, meet people, it all makes me want to do this more,” Barshim says. “I’ve done a lot, but there are still things I want to achieve.”
Next up is Paris, where Barshim promises to go above and beyond once again.