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.
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
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?