Joel Clark-Khan is jumping for joy
It’s easy to say it was ONLY the UK Championship, but the win meant a lot Joel Clark-Khan. The winner shed tears of joy after equaling his personal best to win the men’s high jump. After winning the British outdoor title from 2020 to 2023, Clarke-Khan suffered an 18-month injury layoff with toe problems. At that stage, his career was very high. Fifth at the Commonwealth Games in 2022, competing at the European and World Championships. After the injury. If you break a leg, you get it, but do you hurt a toe? The injury simply would not heal.
He only raced once in 2025, but 2026 is going well. Her winning jump of 2.27 meters, which tied her PR, would have put her on the podium in both Diamond League high jump events.
The emotion can be heard in his comments and photos after the event. It’s a nice reminder that athletes are people, not machines.
“I just thought the moment I cleaned it, this is the moment I’ve been dreaming about. This is a moment that will live long in the memories. I don’t even mean if I clean, even if I don’t clean, to be in position, to fight for gold, the final jump, the whole crowd behind you, I thought I was living the result for the moment.
“So I just kind of embraced it and then the next thing I know, I passed the bar. And then, to be honest, I can’t really remember. It was just an emotional explosion, like tears, tears, tears, I literally had tears in my eyes. I was happy with 2.24 to be honest. I was happy with the 2.24. I was happy with 2.21. I was going to win, but I win.” I’m going to win.
“These little moments are the moments you work for your whole career. I kind of lived in that moment at the London Diamond League in 2023 (third with a 2:27 PR), which has kept my fire burning for a long time through injuries, and it burns pretty thin. So it’s nice to have something to fuel that fire.
Will review the actual flight later. But I think it was a good permission. And I think that tells me there’s more in the tank, that we’re back, and we’re not just back, we’re better. So I’m going to have to try and put it all back together and then build for the next one and hopefully keep going.”
