News02 Apr 2018


Barshim returns to Eugene – IAAF Diamond League

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Mutaz Essa Barshim at the 2013 IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene (© Kirby Lee)

World high jump champion Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar will bring his high-flying act back to the Prefontaine Classic to challenge a world-class field at the IAAF Diamond League meeting on 25-26 May.

Barshim, owner of Eugene’s stadium and meeting records at 2.41m, is the IAAF world male athlete of the year. In a bid for a third Prefontaine Classic title, he’ll face the man who just beat him to the world indoor title in March and the USA’s most successful jumper of the past decade.

At age 26, Barshim has dominated his event like few others. His three IAAF Diamond League trophies are two more than anyone else has in this event. With a PB of 2.43m, Barshim sits second on the world all-time list behind world record-holder Javier Sotomayor.

Danil Lysenko won the world indoor title last month, becoming the first to defeat Barshim since 2016. He also earned silver at last year’s World Championships as a 19-year-old.

Erik Kynard is the leading US entry and the 2016 Diamond League winner. The 2012 Olympic silver medallist is a nine-time national champion and last month missed a medal at the World Indoor Championships only on countback.

Germany’s Mateusz Przybylko claimed bronze at last month’s World Indoor Championships. The 26-year-old Olympian set a PB of 2.35m last year and finished fifth at the World Championships.

Great Britain’s Robbie Grabarz earned Olympic bronze in 2012 and added silver at the 2016 World Indoor Championships in Portland. He also won the 2012 Diamond Trophy.

Jeron Robinson of the US cleared a world-leading 2.31m at the Texas Relays last weekend, tying the lifetime best he set in 2015.

The remaining two spots will be filled by the athletes jumping the best outdoors in the coming weeks.

Organisers for the IAAF

2018 IAAF Diamond League calendar
4 May – Doha, QAT
12 May – Shanghai, CHN
26 May – Eugene, USA
31 May – Rome, ITA
7 Jun – Oslo, NOR
10 Jun – Stockholm, SWE
30 Jun – Paris, FRA
5 Jul – Lausanne, SUI
13 Jul – Rabat, MAR
20 Jul – Monaco, MON
21-22 Jul – London, GBR
18 Aug – Birmingham, GBR
30 Aug – Zurich, SUI
31 Aug – Brussels, BEL

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