7 Aug 2012

Is sky the limit for British high jumper Grabarz?

The withdrawal of lottery funding from Robbie Grabarz has spurred the high jumper to a run of performances that have pushed him to joint-second in the world rankings.

The withdrawal of lottery funding from Robbie Grabarz has spurred the high jumper to a run of performances that have pushed him to joint-second in the world rankings.

Robbie Grabarz underlined his status as a real medal hope at the Games by finishing second at the Diamond League meeting in Monaco on 20 July, writes Channel 4 News producer Rebecca Horsbrugh. The 24-year-old only narrowly failed to match his 2.36m personal best, clearing 2.33 at the third attempt.

It’s been quite a year for the Enfield-born athlete. At the 2010 European Indoor Championships in Paris he finished a lowly 23rd and failed to make the British team for last summer’s World Championships in South Korea.

His poor performance led to the withdrawal of his lottery funding – but that appears to have been the key to his success, as well as the motivation of his coach Fayyad “Fuzz” Ahmed.

Men's high jump at London 2012

5 Aug
19.05 Qualification
7 Aug
19.00 Final

High jumpers have first first have to achieve the qualifying height in the first round. If they fail three jumps in a row at the same height, they are eliminated. Once all jumps have been completed, all those who have achieved the qualifying height go through. If less than 12 do so, then the top 12 progress.

The same pattern follows in the final, with the athlete completing the highest jump the winner. If any athletes are tied, the one with the fewest failures at the final height wins gold. If still tied, the athlete with the fewest overall failures wins.

In June Grabarz won the European title in Helsinki, becoming the first Briton to claim the crown since Glasgow’s Alan Paterson won it in Brussels in 1950. His jump of 2.31m exceeded his own height by 40 centimetres.

Following that victory, people began to sit up and take note. In the same month he also achieved that 2.36m lifetime best in New York – the same height that four years ago secured an Olympic gold.

Grabarz is now ranked joint second in the world in his sport alongside American world champion Jesse Williams. World number one Ivan Ukhov will be hard to beat, but Grabarz has shown this year he has the determination to at least equal fellow Brit Germaine Mason’s silver medal in Beijing four years ago.