Woo Sang-hyeok wins Diamond League Final

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Published: 17 Sep. 2023, 11:01 Updated: 17 Sep. 2023, 16:19

Woo Sang-hyeok wins Diamond League Final

Woo Sang-hyeok of Korea competes in the men's high jump final at the Diamond League Final meet at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday. [AFP/YONHAP]

High jumper Woo Sang-hyeok won the Diamond League Final title on Saturday, becoming the first Korean in any discipline to win one of the most prestigious athletics awards.

Woo matched his own Korean record of 2.35 meters to take gold at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday, which acts as this year’s Diamond League Final.

High jumper Woo Sang-hyeok wins first int'l title of year

The Diamond League is the top tier of World Athletics competition, with 15 events held in multiple countries throughout the year, starting in Qatar.

Only the very best are invited to compete, with the top eight finishers in each event awarded points, from eight for first place down to one for eighth. The top six athletes — for track events the numbers vary slightly — are invited to compete at the Diamond League Final, the culmination of the season.

Woo arrived in Eugene in fourth place on the points standing, becoming the first Korean athlete ever to reach the Diamond League Final. He then blew that record out of the water by becoming the first Korean to win it, beating competition from Norbert Kobielski of Poland and JuVaughn Harrison of the United States, who took silver and bronze respectively.

Woo was on fine form on Saturday, clearing 2.15 meters, 2.20 meters, 2.25 meters and 2.29 meters and 2.22 meters in a single attempt, the only athlete to clear all five heights without a second jump.

Woo then needed three attempts to clear 2.35, tying his own personal best and Korean record in the process, and clinching gold when Kobielski and Harrison failed to make the jump.

"Winning the Diamond League Final has been one of my lifelong goals,” Woo was quoted as saying by Yonhap. “I am so happy to have done it. I don't even have words to describe my feelings. I've worked so hard for this event.

“Sometimes, you need to be lucky to win these events, and everything fell into place for me."

He is a two-time Olympian, having competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics and Tokyo Olympics. In 2016, Woo only managed to clear the bar at 2.26 meters, failing to reach the final. In Tokyo, Woo advanced to the final, becoming the first Korean to reach the final since the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games when Lee finished eighth.

He had also racked up accolades since the Olympics, winning gold at the 2022 World Indoor Athletics Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, in March 2022 to become the world indoor champion, before he became the first Korean ever to win a Diamond League title in Qatar two months later.

Woo did not get the chance to face Tokyo Olympic gold medalists Gianmarco Tamberi, the current world champion, and Mutaz Essa Barshim, as they did not compete in Eugene. He will get the chance to face Barshim later this month, however, as he represents Qatar at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

"When I am competing with Barshim, it keeps me on my toes, and it's going to be fun to go up against him at the Asian Games," Woo said. "Winning an Asian Games gold is an important goal for me. I will try to do even better at the Asian Games than here."

Woo does not have long to prepare for that tournament, with the Asian Games set to kick off at the end of next week in Hangzhou China. The opening ceremony will be held on Sept. 23.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]