In Rome a few days ago, one of the questions posed to Mutaz Essa Barshim was about his health and the lack of heights coming close to those he produced back in 2014, when he came within two centimetres of Javier Sotomayor&rsquo;s long-standing world high jump record of 2.45m.
The Qatari, who had been struggling with various niggling injuries for most of last season, confessed that heights weren&rsquo;t a priority in an Olympic year but, in the end, the crowd at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham on Sunday (5) certainly didn&rsquo;t have to settle for a second-rate contest.
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 more than a year.
Olympic silver medallist Erik Kynard of the US pushed him all the way after taking the lead at 2.35m with a first-time clearance, having to gamble by going for broke at this height after two failures at 2.33m, while Barshim needed two attempts.
But Barshim was the confirmed winner after Kynard had two failures at 2.37m and one at 2.40m. Barshim had two failures at 2.40m and then audaciously had the bar 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.
<h3>Silva in golden form</h3>
As the men&rsquo;s high jump highlighted, many events were rematches from Thursday&rsquo;s IAAF Diamond League meeting in Rome and the women&rsquo;s pole vault field looked very much the same, although there was the addition of 2011 world champion Fabiana Murer.
It was, however, the current world champion Yarisley Silva who stole the show.
The Cuban had finished third in Rome, but a third-attempt clearance at 4.84m in Birmingham catapulted her into the lead as Greece's Ekaterini Stefanidi and Switzerland's Nicole Buchler bowed out at this height after 4.77m clearances, finishing second and third respectively on countback.
Silva had three unsuccessful attempts at 4.92m but her winning mark was an outdoor world lead and an IAAF Diamond League record.
In the women&rsquo;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&rsquo;s triple jump, the crowd saw a big favourite being defeated.
Doha winner Tia Brooks produced a personal best of 19.73m in the fourth round to secure another 10 points in the Diamond Race, with Adams finishing 10 centimetres in arrears.
However, the defeat of Adams was far from the biggest shock of the day. That came in the women&rsquo;s triple jump as Kazakhstan&rsquo;s Olga Rypakova put an end to Caterine Ibarguen&rsquo;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 by bouncing back but the Colombian&rsquo;s last attempt of 14.53m was not enough to avoid her lengthy 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.
<h3>Goodwin gets his revenge for Rome</h3>
Later in the sandpit, long jump world leader Marquise Goodwin put an end to another impressive winning streak by a horizontal jumper.
Britain&rsquo;s Olympic champion Greg Rutherford had gone unbeaten for almost a year &ndash; his last loss coming at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London last July &ndash; 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 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&rsquo;s world, European and Olympic champion, but also to steal the stadium record from him.
In a high-quality competition which saw six men exceed eight metres, US international Mike Hartfield was second with 8.29m with Rutherford down in fifth with 8.17m.
In the men&rsquo;s discus, 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&rsquo;s Robert Harting, the Olympic champion and three-time world champion prior to Malachowski&rsquo;s win in Beijing last August, improved his season&rsquo;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&rsquo;s javelin, Madara Palameika produced the three farthest throws of the day and improved her own season&rsquo;s best to a world-leading 65.68m.
It was redemption for the Latvian over Sunette Viljoen, who had overtaken her in the Diamond Race standings in Rome. With the South African finishing down in sixth place in Birmingham, the lead once again changed in favour of the visibly-delighted Palameika.
Michelle Sammet for the IAAF

In Rome a few days ago, one of the questions posed to Mutaz Essa Barshim was about his health and the lack of heights coming close to those he produced back in 2014, when he came within two centimetres of Javier Sotomayor’s long-standing world high jump record of 2.45m.

Barshim bounces back in Birmingham, Ibarguen's winning streak ends – IAAF Diamond League

Great Britain&rsquo;s world, Olympic and European champion Greg Rutherford will face many of the world&rsquo;s best long jumpers at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham on Sunday 5 June.
Among his rivals at the Alexander Stadium, Rutherford will face world leader Marquise Goodwin, world indoor champion Marquis Dendy and world and Olympic triple jump champion Christian Taylor.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be up against all of the best long jumpers in the world so it will be a very good test for me," said Rutherford. "If I can perform well in Birmingham, there&rsquo;s no reason I can&rsquo;t do the same at the Olympics. There&rsquo;s nothing better than competing on home soil in front of British fans, so I&rsquo;m really looking forward to it. It&rsquo;s a major test for me but I&rsquo;m ready."
Former world junior champion Goodwin is a currently an NFL player with the Buffalo Bills but he is having a hiatus from that sport to focus on athletics and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. He jumped a personal best and world-leading 8.45m in Guadeloupe earlier this month
&ldquo;Next to my NFL career, I love track and field and competing in the long jump this summer," he said. "It was amazing to jump 8.45m and I&rsquo;m hoping to build on it with another big jump in Birmingham; I think the long jump could be one of the most exciting events of the meet.&rdquo;
Rutherford will also face a stern test from Dendy, who set an outright PB of 8.41m indoors earlier this year.
&ldquo;Winning the world indoor title was a great breakthrough for me and I&rsquo;m confident of taking my form into the outdoor season," said Dendy. "Competing at the Birmingham Diamond League against some great competitors will be an important test for me as I build towards the Olympic Games which is the main target for me this summer."
Taylor will test himself in the long jump in Birmingham, as he did in 2014 when winning the event ahead of the likes of Rutherford.
USA's Jeff Henderson, who has the furthest personal best in the field with 8.54m, is also in the field, along with Australia&rsquo;s world silver medallist Fabrice Lapierre, USA&rsquo;s Mike Hartfield and Great Britain&rsquo;s Dan Bramble.
Organisers for the IAAF
2016 IAAF Diamond League calendar 6 May &ndash; Doha, QAT 14 May &ndash; Shanghai, CHN 22 May &ndash; Rabat, MAR 28 May &ndash; Eugene, USA 2 Jun &ndash; Rome, ITA 5 Jun &ndash; Birmingham, GBR 9 Jun &ndash; Oslo, NOR 16 Jun &ndash; Stockholm, SWE 15 Jul &ndash; Monaco, MON 22-23 Jul &ndash; London, GBR 25 Aug &ndash; Lausanne, SUI 27 Aug &ndash; Paris, FRA 1 Sep &ndash; Zurich, SUI 9 Sep &ndash; Brussels, BEL

Great Britain’s world, Olympic and European champion Greg Rutherford will face many of the world’s best long jumpers at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham on Sunday 5 June.

World's best long jumpers to do battle in Birmingham – IAAF Diamond League

Marquise Goodwin soared to a personal best and world lead of 8.45m (0.8m/s) when winning the men's long jump at the&nbsp;Meeting Region Guadeloupe on Saturday evening (14).
The 25-year-old US long jumper held a previous best of 8.33m, which dated back to the 2012 US Olympic Trials, but he surpassed that in style on Saturday night, adding 12 centimetres to his best and eclipsing Ruswahl Samaai's previous world-leading jump of 8.34m.
The runner-up, compatriot Mike Hartfield, also set a PB with a best of 8.34m (0.3m/s). His previous PB&nbsp;stood at 8.27m, set at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Beijing last year.&nbsp;
World indoor champion Marquis Dendy took third in what was his first outdoor long jump of the season, the 23-year-old recording a best of 8.19m.&nbsp;
<h3>James flies to 44.15, Powell powers to 10.04</h3>
On the track, meanwhile, Kirani James continued his winning ways in the men's 400m. The Grenadian&nbsp;recorded 44.15 to win easily from compatriot&nbsp;Bralon Taplin (44.54) and Jamaica's Javon Francis (44.77).
Jamaica's Asafa Powell also had a strong showing over 100m, running a meeting record of 10.04. There was also a meeting record in the women's 100m, with English Gardner of the US running 11.04 for the win.&nbsp;
Lashawn Merritt was in action over 200m, which he won with ease in 20.15 (-0.2m/s) ahead of fellow US sprinter BeeJay Lee (20.31) and Canada's Andre De Grasse (20.46), who also finished third in the 100m earlier in the evening with 10.20.&nbsp;
Kaliese Spencer of Jamaica was best in the women's 400m hurdles with 55.34, while&nbsp;Jordin Andrade of the US&nbsp;won the men's race in 49.52 ahead of Jamaicans Roxroy Cato (49.98) and Leford Green (49.98).&nbsp;
Kristi Castlin led a US sweep of the women's 100m hurdles, winning in 12.69 ahead of Sharika Nelvis and Queen Harrison, who were both timed at 12.76. In equally still conditions (0.1m/s), the&nbsp;men's 110m hurdles went to USA's Ronnie Ash in 13.33.
In the women's 400m, Francena McCorory was an impressive winner in 50.73.&nbsp;
Bahamas' Donald Thomas had his best performance of the outdoor season to date when winning the men's high jump with 2.31m.&nbsp;
The women's long jump went to Kenyattia Hackworth with 6.61m, while compatriot Felisha Johnson took victory in the women's shot put with 18.34m.&nbsp;
Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF

Marquise Goodwin soared to a personal best and world lead of 8.45m (0.8m/s) when winning the men's long jump at the Meeting Region Guadeloupe on Saturday evening (14).

Barshim bounces back in Birmingham, Ibarguen's winning streak ends – IAAF Diamond League

World's best long jumpers to do battle in Birmingham – IAAF Diamond League

Goodwin soars to 8.45m long jump in Guadeloupe