Olympic ‘vibes’ for high-jump great Barshim in Hangzhou

HANGZHOU: Three-time high-jump world champion Mutaz Essa Barshim compared the Asian Games to the Olympics on Monday after skipping the season-ending Diamond League event at Eugene to be in Hangzhou.

The reigning Olympic gold medallist won Asiad titles in 2010 and 2014 and is determined to cap his 2023 season with another.

"For me, the Asian Games are important. You see these vibes, it´s like our Olympics before the Olympics," he said after needing only a single jump of 2.19m to lead the field into Wednesday´s gold-medal showdown. "For me, it was too much travel and I am a different high jumper now. I have three Diamond (League) trophies. Adding a fourth would have been great, but it´s not my top priority at the moment so I decided to skip that."

Barshim shares top billing as Qatar´s most famous sportsman with five-time Dakar Rally champion Nasser Al-Attiyah, who also took time out from his hectic schedule to be in China.