Heavy rain blocked the rise of ‘Smile Jumper’ Woo Sang-hyeok메이저놀이터 (27, Yongin City Hall).
Woo Sang-hyeok failed to exceed 2m16 in the 2023 World Athletics Federation (WA) Stockholm Diamond League men’s high jump event held at the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm, Sweden on the 3rd (Korean time). Heavy rain at the stadium on that day had a great impact on the performance of the players, such as the suspension of the high jump game several times.
Woo Sang-hyeok, who was the last on the track among the nine players, started at 2m08, but he skipped 2m08 and 2m12 and made his first attempt at 2m16. However, in the 1st to 3rd periods, they all touched the bar.
Woo Sang-hyuk finished second in the Doha Diamond League in May (2m27), won the Yecheon KBS Cup (2m32), won the Yokohama Golden Grand Prix (2m29), finished second in the Rome-Florence Diamond League in June (2m30), Jeongseon National Track and Field Championships 1st place (2m33) showed steady improvement, and the ranking points tallied by WA ranked first (1376 points) and tied for first place in the 2023 season record (2m33).
However, in the Diamond League, a player who has never crossed the bar is not ranked, so Woo Sang-hyeok was unable to add points for second place (14 points). In the men’s high jump, the top 6 total points determine the final winner at the final stage to be held in Eugene, Oregon, USA in September. Woo Sang-hyeok will make another leap at the 2023 Asian Championships, which will open in Thailand on the 12th.
The records of other players who participated in the competition that day were poor. Gianmarco Tamberry (31, Italy), co-gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, was only 6th with 2m12. Hamish Kerr (26, New Zealand), who surpassed 2m24, won the gold medal.
Woo Sang-hyeok’s ‘role model’ was Melwin Ricke Holm (18, Sweden), the son of Stefan Holm (47), the men’s high jump gold medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Ricke Holm’s mother is Anna Ricke (Korean name Kim Sun-ah), born in Korea in 1973 and adopted to Sweden.