Korean high jumper Woo Sang-hyeok wins silver in Diamond League season opener

Korean high jumper Woo Sang-hyeok wins silver in Diamond League season opener

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Korean high jumper Woo Sang-hyeok finished in second place in his outdoor debut for the season in Doha, coming up short in his title defense but edging out his biggest rival in the process.

Woo cleared 2.27 meters for the silver medal in the season's first Diamond League meet in Doha, Friday (local time). JuVaughn Harrison of the United States won the gold medal with a jump of 2.32 meters.

Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar, the three-time world champion and the reigning Olympic gold medalist, only managed to jump 2.24 meters for third place.

Woo had won his first career Diamond League title in Doha last May with 2.33 meters.

This was Woo's first outdoor event of 2023. The 27-year-old is taking aim at gold medals at the world championships in August and again at the Asian Games in September, with Barshim expected to be a major threat at both.

"I go into every meet trying to win the gold medal. It fuels me when I don't finish in first place," Woo said. "Every athlete wants to win, but there can be only one at the top. I will keep trying harder to win a title next time."

On this day, Barshim didn't appear to be in his top form at Suheim bin Hamad Stadium. He started his day by clearing 2.18m in one try but needed the full three attempts to get over 2.21m.

Harrison and Woo both need just one attempt each to clear the bar set at 2.18m and 2.21m.

By that point, only Harrison, Woo and Barshim were left standing, with six others knocked out of the competition.

Harrison and Woo jumped over 2.24m in one attempt, while Barshim needed two tries to join them.

When the bar was set at 2.27m, Harrison once again cleared it in a single try. Woo missed on his first two attempts before clearing it on his third try.

Barshim settled for bronze after failing to go over 2.27m in 스포츠 three attempts.

Harrison was perfect in clearing 2.30m and later 2.32m. Trying to challenge the American, Woo skipped 2.30m and went straight to attempting 2.32m. The South Korean, though, missed on all three tries to take home the silver medal.

"Harrison didn't have a great start to last season but he came on really strong in the second half," Woo said of the American athlete who finished second in last year's season-ending Diamond League Final. "He's a young athlete (at 24), and I feel like he will start reaching the podium at major events. Obviously, I'd love to beat him at the Paris Olympics next year."

As for beating Barshim on the Qatari's home turf, Woo said, "I thought, 'Even someone as great as him can lose sometimes.'"

"But he will get better as the season progresses," Woo added. "There's no way he will be in this kind of form for the world championships in August and the Asian Games in September. He has been in more major events and won more titles than any other high jumper. He will surely be back on top of his game at big events."

Woo's personal high remains at 2.35m, set at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and matched at the world championships in 2022.

"I will try to identify problems from my attempts for 2.32m and fix them moving forward," Woo said. "I didn't expect to go for 2.40m from my first event of the season. Since I cleared 2.27m today, I will go for 2.30m, 2.33m and then 2.35m."

Woo acknowledged that he had been experiencing ankle and heel issues since last October, and that he's at about "90 percent" physically. Mentally, though, he may be even further off from his top form.

"I became too conscious on takeoffs," Woo said. "I felt a little different with jumps, compared to training camp.