‘Smile Jumper’ Woo Sang-hyuk (27, Yongin City Hall) is set for a rematch with Jubon Harrison (24, USA) in 28 days.

Woo will compete in the men’s high jump at the World Athletics Rome-Finance Diamond League 2023 starting at 3:20 a.m. ET on June 3 in Florence, Italy.

The event organizers released the list of confirmed athletes on June 27.

Harrison’s name appears on the list.

Woo Sang-hyuk cleared 2.27 meters to finish second in the opening round of the 2023 Diamond League in Doha on June 6.

He beat “the best jumper in the world” Mutaz Essa Barshim (31-Qatar), who cleared 2.24 meters, but was edged out by Harrison, who cleared 2.32 meters.

Woo Sang-hyuk, the 2022 Doha Diamond League champion, failed to win his second consecutive title.

At this year’s Doha Diamond League, Woo was unable to step on the clouds as he feared a recurrence of the ankle injury he suffered last fall.

However, after clearing 2.32 meters in the KBS Boat (Yecheon) on Sept. 9, which doubled as a qualifier for the Hangzhou Asian Games, he beamed, saying, “I’m completely free of injury concerns now.”

He won his first international title of the season with a jump of 2.29 meters at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, on Feb. 21.

“I need to be on the top of the podium frequently in various competitions so that I can win bigger competitions such as the World Championships, Asian Games, and Olympics,” Woo said.

Woo, who is still training in Japan, will depart for Italy on Sept. 30.

Woo competes in the men’s high jump at the Rome-Firenze Diamond League
[Captured from the Rome-Firenze Diamond League website. Resale and DB prohibited].

Varsim will not be competing at the Rome-Pyrenees Diamond League.

Jean-Marco Tamberi (31-ITA), who finished joint first (2.37m) with Barshim at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in 2021, had originally planned to make his first appearance of the season at the event on home soil, but has opted to withdraw due to concerns over a recurrence of his thigh injury.

A total of eight athletes have confirmed their participation in the men’s high jump at the Rome-Firenze Diamond League through July 27.

Woo and Harrison are the favorites to win.

Harrison leads Woo in outdoor personal bests (Harrison 2.36m, Woo 2.35m) and season’s best (Harrison 2.33m, Woo 2.32m).

Harrison was last year’s Rome-Pirenze Diamond League champion (2.27m). Woo was not present at that time.

However, Woo has a more colorful international resume.

Last year, Woo won the world indoor title (2.34m) and finished second (2.35m) at the outdoor world championships. At the Tokyo Olympics, he finished fourth (2.35m).

Harrison finished seventh (2.33m) at the Tokyo Olympics and ninth (2.27m) at the 2022 Outdoor World Championships. However, Harrison has been performing consistently well in the second half of 2022, including a second-place finish (2.34m) at the Diamond League Final last September.

Jubon Harrison has emerged as a rival to Woo Sang-hyuk.
[EPA=Photo]

Woo recognizes Harrison as a good rival.

“I’m very close with Harrison,” Woo said. I was happy to see his performance improve from the second half of last year,” he said. “I thought he could do better if he focused more on the high jump, as he is a long jumper, but I have to win the major competitions먹튀검증, so I will analyze other athletes and improve my stats.”

She will also be looking for an upset in her second meeting with Harrison this season.

Harrison is not the only world-class high jumper competing at the Rome-Firenze Diamond League.

As of today, seven athletes have qualified for the men’s high jump at the World Championships in Budapest this August.

Barshim is the defending world champion, while Tamberi earned a wild card as the 2022 Diamond League Final champion.

Harrison, Hamish Kerr (NZL), Joel Baden (AUS), Andriy Prochenko (UKR) and Sang Hyuk Woo (KOR), who jumped 2.32m or better during the World Championships qualification period (July 31, 2022-July 30, 2023), have also qualified.

The Rome-Pirenze Diamond League will feature four World Championship qualifiers in Woo, Harrison, Kerr and Prochenko.

Prochenko is a veteran with a personal best of 2.40 meters and a third-place finish at last year’s World Championships.

Django Lovett (personal best 2.33m, Canada), Edgar Rivera (2.31m, Mexico), Tobias Portier (2.30m, Germany) and Duwi Amels (2.28m, Netherlands) round out the Diamond League field.

One more competitor could be added.