Barshim Wins Latest High Jump Battle With Bondarenko

Published by IAAF on August 24, 2014

Mutaz Essa Barshim won the latest high jump battle with his arch rival Bogdan Bondarenko at the Sainsbury’s Birmingham Grand Prix, an IAAF Diamond League meeting, as both men cleared 2.38m in another high quality contest that caught the imagination of the 13,000 capacity crowd on Sunday (24).

Barshim had beaten the Ukrainian in Rome when he leapt 2.41m but Bondarenko came out on top in their stunning competition in New York when both cleared 2.42m and the latter won again in Monaco before going on to claim the European title in Zurich last week.

However, the Qatari was the slightly fresher man this time and won on count-back with a clean card from 2.24m to 2.35m while Bondarenko failed his first attempt at 2.28m.

“I’m happy I got the win which is all that matters,” said Barshim “It’s the battle they are all talking about: Barshim versus Bondarenko.

“I’ve got a lot of competitions coming up so there is a lot to still compete for.”