High jumper Woo Sang-hyeok finishes 6th at world championships

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Hangzhou Asian Games

Sun, December 3, 2023 | 20:23

High jumper Woo Sang-hyeok finishes 6th at world championships

Posted : 2023-08-23 09:27

Updated : 2023-08-23 21:05

Woo Sang-hyeok of Korea gestures in the High Jump Men final competition of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Aug. 22. EPA-Yonhap

High jumper Woo Sang-hyeok has finished in sixth place at the world championships in Hungary, coming up short in his bid to win a medal for the second consecutive year.

Woo could not go higher than 2.29 meters in the final held at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on Tuesday (local time).

Woo, who won silver at last year's event, was trying to become the first Korean to win a medal at back-to-back world championships. The 27-year-old was also looking to become the first Korean athlete with multiple world championships medals.

Woo cleared 2.20m, 2.25m and then 2.29m, each in a single attempt, and found himself tied for first with JuVaughn Harrison of the United States after six of the 13 finalists had been eliminated.

After the bar was raised to 2.33m, Woo saw three jumpers clear it in their first attempts: Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar, Harrison, and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy.

Woo hit the bar to momentarily fall to fourth place. Then Luis Enrique Zayas of Cuba and Tobias Potye of Germany both successfully went over 2.33m, as Woo fell to sixth place.

Instead of giving 2.33m another try, Woo decided to go for 2.36m, which would have been his outdoor personal best.

Woo Sang-hyeok makes an attempt in the Men's high jump final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Aug. 22. AP-Yonhap

Barshim, Potye and Harrison all missed in their first jumps to give Woo a bit of an opening. Tamberi cleared it with room to spare to soar to first place, but Woo followed him with a failed attempt that kept him in sixth place.

Woo now had just one attempt left to stay alive in the competition. After Barshim and Potye both failed to clear, Harrison jumped over 2.36m to grab second place. Woo couldn't match that feat, and his day ended unceremoniously.

Tamberi captured his first outdoor world title, with Harrison picking up the silver. Barshim settled for bronze after winning the past three titles. (Yonhap)

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