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High jumper Woo Sang-hyeok halts European tour due to calf injury, to focus on worlds

Published: 12 Aug. 2025, 16:26

High jumper Woo Sang-hyeok competes in the men's high jump event of the Diamond League athletics meeting at the Olympic stadium in Rome on June 6. [AFP/YONHAP]

High jumper Woo Sang-hyeok has ended his scheduled European tour prematurely due to some calf discomfort and will instead focus on preparing for the world championships next month, representatives said on Tuesday.

Woo, No. 1 in the world in the men's high jump, was set to compete in a high jump meet in Heilbronn, Germany, on Sunday, but did not participate after being introduced to the crowd.

According to a spokesperson of the Korea Association of Athletics Federations, Woo felt some discomfort in his calf while warming up and pulled out of the German event as a precaution.

The spokesperson said that Woo has also pulled out of the next two competitions in Europe — a Diamond League stop in Poland this week and the Diamond League Final in Switzerland at the end of August.

Woo is due back home on Wednesday and will undergo tests to determine the extent of his injury.

Woo has won all seven of his international events this season, including the world indoor title and two Diamond League victories. Woo likely would have qualified for the Diamond League Final, which is open to the top six in the points standings, but he has chosen to skip the upcoming events with his eye on the biggest competition this season — the world championships in Tokyo in September.

For the men's high jump, the preliminaries are set for Sept. 14, followed by the final two days later.

Woo won silver at the 2022 worlds in the United States. It remains the best performance by any Korean athlete at a world championship. He has won an indoor world title before and will be going for his first outdoor world title this fall.

Woo climbed to the top of the men's high jump world rankings in July. He sits atop the standings with 1,389 points accumulated from his performances, 21 points ahead of Oleh Doroshchuk of Ukraine, the reigning European indoor champion.

Yonhap