Barshim wants to raise the bar further

Bengaluru, August 28: World high jump champion Mutaz Essa Barshim finished the season just as it started -- on a high.

The Qatari who won gold in the Diamond League season opener at home in May went on to clinch the Diamond Trophy after the Zurich meet last Thursday (August 24).

And yesterday (August 27) at the annual Hochsprung-Eberstadt competition in Germany, he clinched the yellow metal with an effort of 2.40M to end the season in style.

اللهم لك الحمد ، ٢،٤٠م والفوز في ملتقى ايبيرشتات في المانيا ، وخلص موسم ٢٠١٧ على خير 🙏🏽

🇶🇦🇶🇦🏆🥇 #يلا_قطر #تميم_المجد @qatarathletics pic.twitter.com/mjsynmSIpD

— معتز برشم ♕Barshim (@mutazbarshim) August 27, 2017

The 26-year-old has been in impressive form this season winning seven Diamond League meets and 11 events in all. In between he reached the pinnacle of glory when he won his maiden world outdoor title in London with a leap of 2.36M.

In Germany, a gathering of around 2,000 were treated to some high class action at the event exclusively for high jumpers, where for the first time in the history of the meeting, two jumpers cleared 2.38M.

Barshim cleared 2.40M and even attempted 2.44M, missing the mark narrowly.

"It was a great competition. It is the best meeting in the world here, the weather was very good, there was a really good atmosphere in the stadium. There were great and hard duels, that spurs me on," said Barshim.

He added that pressure only motivates him to do better. "When I have pressure and a competitor with whom I have to fight, that I love, which carries me ever higher up. I wanted the arena record and also the world record I had in mind, but I was too excited and also somewhat tired by that whole trip this season. But, I am very satisfied with the result."

Barshim's personal best of 2.43M at the 2014 Brussels Diamond League meeting is the second-best jump in world history behind Cuba's Javier Sotomayor's long-standing record of 2.45 set in 1992.

The 26-year-old spoke about his repeated desire to break the world record.

"The only target I have now is the world record. I don't want to put any limits on myself. I'm not in any rush. My coach Stanislaw Szczyrba tells me that I'm still young and I'm not yet at my peak," he said.

"I'm still getting stronger mentally and physically. Injuries have slowed me down a bit, but I'm happy that I'm starting to build back from that and I'm now healthy," the Qatari star added.

Having produced eight of the 10 best jumps in the world this summer, the Qatari wants to focus on the 2019 IAAF World Championships to be held at home.

"I thought about it a couple of times after London. It's always nice to jump on home soil. It's going to be great. I just hope I'm going to be healthy and ready to fight," he signed off.

Barshim crowned Diamond League champion