The Qatari, who had been struggling with various niggling injuries for most of last season, confessed that heights weren’t a priority in an Olympic year but, in the end, but the crowd at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham certainly didn’t have to settle for a second-rate contest on Sunday (5).
Having only finished a disappointing sixth in the Italian capital with 2.27m, Barshim produced a world-leading 2.37m clearance, his best result for over a year.
London 2012 Olympic Games silver medallist Erik Kynard pushed him all the way as the American took the lead at 2.35m with a first time clearance, having gamble by going for broke at this height after two failures at 2.33m, while Barshim needed two attempts.
However, once Barshim was the confirmed winner, after Kynard had two failures at 2.37m and one at 2.40m, although he had two failures at 2.40m he still had the bar audaciously raised to what would have been an Asian record of 2.44m, but also failed at the height.
Seeing Barshim attack those heights with the confidence he showed two seasons ago has just made Olympic year that little bit more interesting in this discipline.
As the men’s high jump highlighted, many events were rematches from Thursday’s IAAF Diamond League meeting in Rome and the women’s pole vault field looked very much the same, although there was the addition of 2011 world champion Fabiana Murer.
SILVA IN GOLDEN FORM
It was, however, the current world champion Yarisley Silva who stole the show.
The Cuban had finished third in Rome, but with a third attempt clearance at 4.84m catapulted herself in the lead as Greece’s Katerini Stefanidi and Switzerland’s Nicole Buchler bowed out at this height after 4.77m clearances, finishing second and third respectively on countback.
Silva’s vault meant a 2016 world-lead outdoors and an IAAF Diamond League record, before she had three unsuccessful attempts at 4.92m.
In the women’s shot put, 2014 IAAF World Athlete of the Year Valerie Adams was looking to build on her consistent form that saw her take the win in Rome but, just like in the women’s triple jump, the crowd saw a big favourite being defeated.
Doha winner Tia Brooks produced a personal best in the fourth round of 19.73m to secure another 10 points in the Diamond Race, with Adams finishing 10cm in arrears.
However, the defeat of Adams was far from the biggest shock of the day; that came in the women’s triple jump as Kazakhstan’s Olga Rypakova put an end to Caterine Ibarguen’s 34-strong winning streak.
Ibarguen was leading with 14.56m until the final round, the jumpers having to deal with distracting swirling winds, but a last attempt from Rypakova saw her take the lead with 14.61m.
In the past, Ibarguen has been impressive at responding to situations like this bouncing back, but the Colombian’s last attempt of 14.53m was not enough to avoid her winning streak coming to an end.
Ironically, it was Rypakova who inflicted the last defeat, almost four years ago, on Ibarguen in the London 2012 Olympic final, when the pair took the gold and silver medals respectively.
GOODWIN GETS HIS REVENGE FOR ROME
Later in the sandpit, long jump world leader Marquise Goodwin put an end to another impressive winning streak by a horizontal jumper.
Great Britain’s 2012 Olympic champion Greg Rutherford had gone unbeaten for almost a year – his last loss coming in the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London last July – and won nine straight competitions but, after a couple of slightly lacklustre competitions in Rabat and Rome, being beaten by Rutherford in the latter meeting, Goodwin was close to his best.
The American, who is coached by no one less than four-time world champion Dwight Phillips, leapt to an impressive 8.42m in his second round effort, just three centimetres short of his world-leading mark, to not only seal the victory over Britain’s reigning world, European and Olympic champion, but also to steal the stadium record off him.
In the men’s discus, 2015 world champion Piotr Malachowski found his way back to winning ways after a nightmare performance in Rome that saw him finish sixth.
The Pole won with 67.50m, the final throw of the competition when he had already secured the win following his fourth round 66.91m.
Germany’s Robert Harting, the 2012 Olympic champion and three-time world champion prior to Malachowski’s win in Beijing last August, improved his season’s best to 65.97m to remind the world that despite being ruled out through injury all of last year, he is still likely to be a contender come Rio.
In the women’s javelin, Madara Palameika produced the three farthest throws of the day and improving her own season’s best to a world-leading 65.68m.
It was redemption for the Latvia over Sunette Viljoen, who had overtaken her in the Diamond Race standings in Rome, but with the South African finishing down in sixth place the lead once again changed in favour of the visibly-delighted Palameika.
Michelle Sammet for the IAAF and the IAAF Diamond League