High jumpers to raise the bar at Bislett

OSLO 9 April 2015 – The men’s high jump will undoubtedly be one of the feature events at this year’s ExxonMobil Bislett Games. Meeting Director Steinar Hoen (himself a high jumper of distinction with a personal best of 2.36m) has assembled the finest ever field to contest the event at Oslo’s famous Bislett stadium.

The men’s high jump returns to Oslo after a gap of some seasons but coincides with an enormous surge in the event over the past couple of years. Perhaps the most exciting of all this new wave of high jumpers is the 2014 World Indoor Champion Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and we are thrilled to welcome him to his first competition at Bislett. He achieved a personal best of 2.43m in last year’s Diamond League final in Brussels and some of his clearances have been truly breathtaking. Some of Barshim’s successful attempts at high bars have seen him clearing huge heights by enormous margins.

However, Barshim will face fierce competition in this IAAF Diamond League event on 11 June in Oslo. Look at the competitors who have confirmed their appearance.

Russia’s Ivan Ukhov: The man who went from a YouTube sensation to the London Olympic Champion in a couple of seasons. The powerful Ukhov has a best of 2.41m, and as he showed in that Olympic final, has the poise and credentials to dominate a classy field. The tall Ukrainian Bohdan Bondarenko has grabbed two major titles since exploding onto the scene in 2013. He is now the reigning World and European Champion, has a personal best of 2.42m (2.41m outdoors) and has cleared over 2.40m in a competition no fewer than 8 times.

Of course these will not be the only contenders for the Diamond League prizes with fellow 2.40m jumpers Derek Drouin of Canada (Olympic bronze medallist) and Ukraine’s Andriy Protsenko both looming large as the bar approaches record heights.

Whenever competitors of this ilk face off against each other, there is always a possibility of a world record, and the Bislett stadium is no stranger to records with a total of 69 world records achieved in the unique arena over the years.

Interestingly, of its 69 world records, Bislett has never hosted a world record in a high jump competition. Perhaps this year’s men’s high jump could provide “The World Record Track” with its 70th world record in its 50th anniversary edition of one the world’s most famous invitational track and field meetings.

The three best marks on record at the Bislett Stadium are 2.37m from the still world record-holder Javier Sotomayor of Cuba, 2.36m from former world record-holder Patrik Sjöberg of Sweden, and 2.35m (in 1994 and a new Norwegian record) from the Oslo Meeting Director Steinar Hoen, who will feel only pride to see his best performance shunted down the Bislett All Time list by such a high quality field.