Injured Barshim withdraws

One of the brightest gems in Asian athletics and the biggest draw card of the 20th Asian Championships, Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar, has withdrawn from the meet because of a back injury.

Barshim, who set an Asian high jump record of 2.40 metres at the Prefontaine Diamond League meeting on June 1, was expected to retain the gold he won at the previous championships in Kobe two years ago.

“Off for a while, out from Birmingham Diamond League and the Asian Championships, back injury,” the 22-year-old Barshim wrote on his twitter page a couple of days back. Earlier, a Qatari official had said Barshim was pulling out as he wanted to focus on the World Championships in Moscow next month but the news of his back injury has come as a dampener.

Barshim had suffered a back injury early last year as well, hampering his preparations for the London Olympics, where he won the bronze medal. It was diagnosed as a stress fracture in the lumbar vertebrae. After his 2.40M effort, he was the hot favourite in Pune and was looking good for his first gold at the World’s. It remains to be seen how he recovers from his latest setback.