Qatari track and field athlete Mutaz Barshim has sparked a social media craze after becoming the second highest jumper of all time last week.
The 23-year-old successfully cleared 2.43 meters (about 8 feet) in the high-jump during the IAAF Diamond League final in Brussels last week, breaking a previous record that he set in March.
![](http://dohanews.co/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Barshim-1-Adam-Schmenk-336x336.jpg)
Though he failed to beat the world record of 2.45 meters, set by Cuban Javier Sotomayor in 1993, Barshim’s achievements soon caught the imagination of sports commentators.
Under the hashtag #ThingsBarshimCouldJumpOver, Adam Schmenk of USA Track & Field began using photoshopped images to show the scale of Barshim’s athletic feat.
He featured Olympic bronze medalist and world silver medalist Barshim’s jump set against a basketball net and also a football goalpost, to help people understand the height of his jump.
https://twitter.com/TheSchmenk/status/509878758614921217
Since then, the hashtag has been trending across social media, with a range of quirky photoshopped landmarks – including a London phone box, the back of a giraffe and a Lord of the Rings reference.
Here are some of the most popular tweets so far:
https://twitter.com/Diamond_League/status/510425321112621056/
Inspired by @theschmenk, a compilation of #ThingsBarshimCouldJumpOver http://t.co/A6wda7vnOZ pic.twitter.com/ZcJa26W6WL
— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) September 12, 2014
#ThingsBarshimCouldJumpOver http://t.co/TAwMZnuuwP" @Coxy2995
— Thomas 'Cito' Cox (@thethomasjcox) September 11, 2014
@mutazbarshim One more. You could’ve easily destroyed the ring. :p #ThingsBarshimCouldJumpOver #LotR pic.twitter.com/Xk962iQVUm
— مشاعل (@MJLaLa) September 12, 2014
A Twitter user himself, Barshim has been encouraging fans to offer up their own digitally-enhanced online offerings.
Be #creative be #funny #be #brilliant #ThingsBarshimCouldJumpOver Another one I like with the champ @FloydMayweather pic.twitter.com/5HiUCWxdfW
— معتز برشم ♕Barshim (@mutazbarshim) September 13, 2014
Which one do you like best? Thoughts?