Mutaz Barshim – Qatar’s most decorated athlete – secured bronze medal at the Paris Games at Stade de France yesterday. Though it was a not a fitting farewell to his illustrious Olympic career, the Qatari superstar will be remembered as one the greatest Olympic athletes of all times particularly in the men’s high jump.
The bronze medal for the 33-year-old was his fourth medal in the Olympic Games, having won silver medals at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games besides a famous gold medal triumph at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago when he shared victory with his friend Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy. Barshim had announced last month that Paris would be his final Olympic Games.
He had also etched his name in the history books after becoming the first athlete to win three straight World Athletics Championships titles. With multiple medals to his name across all major events, he is certainly the most successful athlete Qatar has ever seen. Barshim’s bronze medal was the only medal for Qatar in Paris.
While the high jumper claimed a medal, there was disappointment for Qatar fans in Olympics weightlifting events as Fares Ibrahim failed in the 102kg following an elbow injury. He failed thrice to lift 178kg in snatch that eliminated him from the following clean and jerk category.
Three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics, Fares became Qatar’s first-ever gold medalist when he topped the 96kg category, which was not the part of Paris Games. The 26-year-old promised he will come back stronger in the Los Angeles Games 2028. “I apologise for the unexpected performance due to an elbow injury. This is the first time I felt this injury. But this is not the end. I will return to achieve something in Los Angeles (2028),” he said.
Also yesterday, Qatar’s top beach volleyball duo of Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan failed to match their Tokyo bronze medal performance after they lost to Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum in the third-place playoff to finish fourth. Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba was the other medal contender but he finished sixth in the men’s 400m hurdles final on Friday night.
While Qatar failed to emulate their Tokyo Games achievements where they won an unprecedented two gold medals and one bronze medal, the Al Annabi athletes showed some encouraging performance in Paris signalling a bright future ahead of the Los Angeles Games in 2028. Among them was Qatar hurdler Bassem Hemeida, who registered a personal best time despite struggling with injuries this season. Also, Qatari sprinter Ammar Ismail [Yahia Ibrahim] achieved his personal best of 44.64 secs in the men’s 400m.
