He is aiming high at the minute. Indoors he proved he was capable of something special this year. With his outdoor debut at Thursday’s Diamond League Meeting in Rome, he reminded the world’s high jump elite that he is one to watch out for at his home Olympics.
When asked about whether he expected a result as it happened in Rome Robbie Grabarz’ answers do not lack confidence saying: “I did. I know where I am at in my training and things have been going well. I was confident going in and wanted to be competitive with a very strong field.”
Competitive at first, but invincible in the end. With his 2.33m leap he is currently the world’s leading high jumper, leaving big names such as last year’s world champion Jesse Williams or this year’s indoor world champion Ivan Uhkov behind him. The reason for his outstanding start to the season he says is “I’m very happy with my life and training and I am confident with all the training and hard work I have put in this winter.”
Up next for the 24-year old Birmingham based athlete is the New York Diamond League Meeting on June 9. He doesn’t want to predict any heights but says he will go into the competition “Same as always: Go out, be competitive and have fun!”
When giving interviews Grabarz often appears to be extremely light-hearted and have a very high self-esteem, but he admits that the only one to keep him from success is himself. He knows that this year’s strength comes from a change in his attitude towards previous seasons. “I am my strongest opponent. High Jump is battle with yourself. It is easier to talk yourself out of success than talk yourself into it. Nothing the other competitors do can affect me, I cannot control their actions.“
However, he is definitely not lacking confidence. Recently he took off his kit for the gay magazine Attitude, raising questions about his sexuality. He, again, sees it as a way of expressing himself and his new mental attitude saying: “I think it just helps everyone understand how much fun I am having right now and lets people know what the body of a High Jumper looks like!”
For his preparation up until London there is not much to be changed. He says: “I need to keep performing as I have done here in Rome and stay on top of everything, maintaining focus on the task in hand. I have plenty of competitions before the Games, most importantly the Aviva UK Championships in a couple of weeks (Birmingham Alexander Stadium, 22nd – 24th June 2012).”
With this in mind and his relaxed attitude, his dream of “becoming Olympic Champion in London” does not seem to be out of reach for the young British jumper.
