CHINESE high jumper Zhang Hao took the silver medal in the men’s high jump at the 2026 Asian Beach Games here on Friday.
Leonard Grospe of the Philippines tied with Zhang on 2.05 metres, but won the title on countback after having made fewer attempts. Yeh Po-Ting of Taiwan Province of China, who also jumped 2.05 metres, tied with Zhang for second place. Zhang, bronze medallist at China’s 15th National Games, cleared 1.80 metres, 1.90 metres and 2.00 metres on his first attempt.
He cleared 2.05 metres after two attempts but failed to conquer 2.10 metres. “In adapting to compete on the beach, I changed my runup. However, when I marked 2.00 metres, I tried to clear 2.05 metres by using my old run-up, which cost me my first attempt. Then I changed my run-up again and succeeded,” Zhang told Xinhua. “I chose not to skip 1.80 metres because I wanted to get more accustomed to the sand.
On a normal synthetic track I would choose a higher starting height, but today I played it safe because my ankle was quite painful. My goal was to finish the event smoothly and avoid injury,” Zhang added.
Xinhua
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