Woo regains world indoor high jump title in Nanjing

Korea's Woo Sanghyeok etched his name in the history books by claiming his second world indoor high jump title at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 25, three years after his first triumph in Belgrade.

With this victory, he becomes only the third man to win multiple titles in the event, joining world record-holder Javier Sotomayor and Sweden’s 2004 Olympic champion Stefan Holm, both of whom hold four titles.

The 28-year-old secured gold by clearing 2.31m on his first attempt, the only athlete to achieve that height. Defending champion and Olympic gold medallist Hamish Kerr took silver with 2.28m, edging Jamaica’s Raymond Richards on countback for the bronze.

Five of the 13 finalists bowed out at 2.20m, among them European indoor silver medallist Jan Stefela and Jamaica’s 2023 NCAA champion Romaine Beckford. Two more athletes – Japan’s Naoto Hasegawa and Israel’s Jonathan Kapitolnik – exited the contest at 2.24m, leaving six men to try for 2.28m.

Only world leader and European indoor champion Oleh Doroshchuk and Jamaica’s Richards had managed to clear 2.24m on their first attempts, giving them a slight advantage over, Woo, Kerr and USA’s Elijah Kosibah.

Italy’s Manuel Lando was next to bow out, but the five other men went clear at 2.28m. Woo and Kerr did so on their first attempts, while Richards and Kosibah needed two tries each. Doroshchuk, meanwhile, only managed to clear it on his third attempt, which eventually proved costly and meant the Ukrainian finished outside of the medals.

With just a slight brush of the bar, Woo got over 2.31m on his first try to equal his season’s best and take the sole lead. Kerr came close but was ultimately unsuccessful in getting over the bar as he was forced to surrender his title to the Korean. The New Zealander now has a full set of world indoor medals—gold from Glasgow, silver in Nanjing, and bronze from Belgrade.

Richards, who had never competed at a major senior international championships, was the surprise package of the final, taking bronze on countback with 2.28m.

“It was because of my experience at the Paris Olympics last year that I was able to win this gold medal,” said Woo, who placed seventh at last year’s Games. “After the Olympics, it was a bit tough. But looking back, I think it was just a temporary phase. My coach and I decided that we’d prepare hard for the World Indoor Championships, so we worked together with that mindset. And now that I've been able to do well again, it's truly a wonderful night for me.”

Yemi Galadima for World Athletics