Personal Bests - Mutaz Essa Barshim

Published by IAAF on March 23, 2015

Mutaz Essa Barshim has emerged in the past couple of seasons as a global icon of the sport, the second best high jumper in history.

The 23-year-old Qatari tells us about some of the best aspects of his life in the wake of an outstanding unbeaten indoor season which also saw him raise the Asian indoor record to 2.41m.

My best friend in athletics

I have many. Warren Weir, Renaud Lavillenie, Dayron Robles. I'm also cool with all the high jumpers. I am a big fan of track and field generally and I really appreciate what the likes of Warren, Renaud and Dayron are achieving in the sport. We started to talk on the athletics circuit, we realised we had a lot in common and we have since taken that step forward into a good friendship.

My best achievement in athletics

Winning bronze at the 2012 Olympics helped open the door for me to reach the next level. I wasn't healthy coming into the Games (Mutaz was suffering from a back injury) but winning bronze in London helped me believe in myself.