Mutaz Barshim Biography Facts, Childhood, Career & Life

Mutaz Barshim Biography Facts, Childhood, Career, Personal Life
Wikimedia

Mutaz Essa Barshim (born June 24, 1991) is a track and field athlete from Qatar, and he is of Sudanese descent.

He competes in the high jump and has enjoyed a successful career so far, with several titles to his name.

This article on Mutaz Barshim biography facts presents an analysis of his childhood, career, and personal life.

Mutaz Barshim Biography Facts & Profile

  • Full Name: Mutaz Essa Barshim (Arabic: معتز عيسى برشم)
  • Date of birth: June 24, 1991 (age 32 years)
  • Place of Birth: Doha, Qatar
  • Nationality: Qatari
  • Height: 6 feet, 2 inches
  • Weight: 143 lbs (65 kg)
  • Sport: Athletics
  • Event: High Jump
  • Parents: Essa Mohamed Barshim (father)
  • Spouse: Alexandra Barshim
  • Children: Josef Essa Barshim (son)

Mutaz Barshim Childhood & Early Life

Mutaz Essa Barshim was born on June 24, 1991, into a Sudanese family, in Doha, Qatar.

He is one of five boys and a girl born to his father Essa Mohamed Barshim, who was a middle-distance and long-distance runner.

Mutaz Barshim and his siblings’ involvement in Track & Field activities was influenced by his father, who took up coaching at a local club upon returning from a competition.

Young Barshim learned to speak English in an Arabic school in Doha.

By the age of 15, he started his endeavors in the high jump, which was the beginning of a glorious career.

Mutaz Barshim Career

Barshim had tried running and long jump before switching to high jump at the age of 15 and began training in Doha at the Aspire Academy.

In September 2009, he was under new coaching management in person of Stanislas “Stanley” Szczyrba from Poland/Sweden.

In 2010 Barshim taste his first victory in the international scene after setting a Qatari indoor record with a jump of 2.25 m.

He followed up that success with a gold medal win at the 2010 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships with a 2.20 m clearance.

He represented Qatar at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha and finished 14th in the qualifying round to become the first ASPIRE Academy graduate to compete at the World Championships and hold a national record in an Olympic sport.

At the Arab Athletics Championships for Juniors in Cairo, Barshim’s outdoor best performance of 2.23 m and continental junior title win saw him sets a national record and a world-leading mark for junior athletes.

He also recorded a win with a jump height of 2.30 m at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics held in Moncton.

In 2011, a year after tasting his first victory in an international competition, he kept up with his impressive form.

He won a gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championship, a gold medal at the Military World Games, and made his debut on the global senior level at the 2011 World Athletics Championships held in Daegu.

However, he didn’t win a medal in the competition and rounded up the year with yet another gold medal at the international level at the 2011 Pan Arab Games in Doha.

Qatari high jumper Motaz Essa Barsham – Doha 2011
Qatari professional high jumper Motaz Essa Barsham at the Doha Diamond League – May 6, 2011. Wikimedia

2012 saw him setting a personal best and a national record with a jump height of 2.37 m and establishing the highest indoor jump in the World at the 2012 indoor Asian Championships in Hangzhou, China.

He competed in the London Olympics Games and finished with a bronze medal with a jump of 2.29 despite not been fully fit due to a back injury he suffered before the Olympics.

His back injury continued to be an issue the following year.

Barshim competed in six competitions for the indoor season, winning five with a best of 2.37, which was the highest in the World indoors for that year before his back injury forced him to an early exit.

He took a break to recover and prepare for the outdoor season.

The outdoor was quite a different Barshim competing.

Although he was yet to fully recover from his back injury, he still put up a decent performance.

He set a new record of 2.36 at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League Meet in Eugene, Oregon, and broke the record with a new personal best of 2.40, thus becoming the first man since 2000 and 8th man in history to achieved 2.40 outdoors.

Barshim competed sparingly in the 2014 indoor season because of his chronic back pain.

At the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championship in Sopot, Poland, he won the gold medal defeating Ivan Ukhov in the finals.

In the 2014 outdoor season, Barshim outdid himself once again at the IAAF Diamond League, setting a new personal best at a jump height of 2.43, becoming the second-highest jumper of all time, the first being Javier Sotomayor of Cuba with two record jumps of 2.44 and 2.45.

In 2015, he was the winner of the IAAF Diamond League in Eugene, Oregon. At the Olympics in 2016, he represented Qatar.

He won a silver medal in the high jump in the competition as well as been crowned champion of the IAAF Diamond League stops in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Birmingham that same year.

Representing Qatar at the 2017 IAAF World Championship, he earned a gold medal in the high jump.

He was also the winner at the IAAF Diamond League stops in Zurich, Birmingham, Paris, and Shanghai in 2017.

2018 was not quite the year for Barshim as he didn’t win any major competition.

However, in 2019, he bounces back as he became the first man to defend the World high jump title with a leading jump of 2.37 m on home soil, Doha.

Personal Bests

  • Outdoor: 2.43 m (2014)
  • Indoor: 2.41 m (2015)

Medals

Mutaz Barshim Personal Life

Wife & Children

In November 2018, Mutaz Barshim celebrated his wedding to his beautiful wife Alexandra Barshim in Sweden and Qatar.

Alexandra has roots in athletics.

In 2020, the couple gave birth to their first child, a baby boy named Josef Essa Barshim.

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