Olympic gold medals in weightlifting, high-jump mark historic day for Qatar

Qatar's Mutaz Barshim and Faris Ibrahim El-Bakh made history for their country by claiming the first ever Olympic gold medals in history just a few hours apart. (AFP)

Qatar's Mutaz Barshim won his country's first Olympic track and field gold medal in the high jump on Sunday.

Barshim and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi both recorded a best clearance of 2.37 meters, which meant they ended up with a rare shared title.

Both athletes said they were in dreamland as they put behind them the nightmare of serious injuries to claim the top prize.

Barshim, though, missed out on a share of the gold because of an earlier failure.

The jubilant duo declined the chance of winning the title outright by turning down a jump-off.

For Barshim, 30, it completes a full house of Olympic medals having taken bronze in London in 2012 and silver in Rio five years ago.

Barshim missed a large part of 2018 with a serious ankle injury, bouncing back to win world outdoor gold on home soil in 2019.

"This is a dream I don't want to wake up from," he said. "I have been through a lot. It's been five years that I have been waiting, with injuries and a lot of set-backs.

"But we are here today sharing this moment and all the sacrifices. It's really worth it now in this moment."

Elsewhere at the Games, a few hours before Barshim, it was another first for Qatar after weightlifter Faris Ibrahim El-Bakh won the country's first ever gold medal in the Men's 96kg weightlifting competition.

His historic achievement came after lifting a total of 402kg, which set a new Olympic record in the process.

Venezuelan Villanilla Sanchez finished second whilst while the bronze went to Georgian Plisnoll Anton.

* With AFP