Alia Al Mughairi described the experience of competing in the Asian Games high jump final as both a privilege and an unforgettable chapter in her sporting journey

There are moments in sport when a centimetre means far more than a number… For Omani high jumper Alia Al Mughairi, 1.75m was one of those moments.

After months of trying to clear the height, the young athlete finally sailed over the bar on Tuesday at the 20th Asian Games (Aichi-Nagoya 2026) in Japan, raising the national record from 1.74m to 1.75m and ending her season with a performance she had been chasing for months.

It was a personal best, a new national record, and a moment of immense pride on one of the biggest stages of her career.

Speaking exclusively to Muscat Daily from Japan, Al Mughairi described the experience of competing in the Asian Games high jump final as both a privilege and an unforgettable chapter in her sporting journey.

“It was a privilege and an incredible experience to compete in the high jump final at the Asian Games,” she said. “I’m over the moon to end the season with a personal best and a national record of 1.75m.” The height had not come easily.

“I have been trying to clear the height for a few months, and I was ecstatic when I finally jumped over it in Nagoya,” she said. And even after achieving the record, Al Mughairi was already looking beyond it.

“I had a very close attempt at 1.80m, but that’s the next goal to reach!” That ambition has become a defining part of her journey.

From gymnastics to high jump

High jump was not where Al Mughairi began. Before she ever approached a high-jump bar, she spent seven years as a gymnast. It was a sport that demanded discipline, flexibility, coordination and control, but high jump was never part of her original plans.

Then her gymnastics coach, Kristi Palmer, saw something that Al Mughairi herself had not yet recognised. Her height and natural springiness, Palmer believed, could make her well suited to high jump. At 14, Al Mughairi decided to give the event a try. And, the transition was remarkably quick.

Only two months after taking up high jump, she broke the Oman national record at a school tournament in Sri Lanka. The performance opened a new chapter and soon led to her joining the national team. What began almost as an experiment gradually became her sporting identity.

The skills she had developed through seven years of gymnastics gave her a foundation, but high jump demanded something different. Speed, strength, timing, technique and precision all had to come together in a single attempt.

Every centimetre required work. Every failed attempt meant returning to the runway and trying again.

The barrier is not the bar

Al Mughairi’s journey has not been a straight line upwards. She had set an official national record of 1.60m in 2017. But the years that followed brought coaching challenges, injuries and the demands of studying at university in the United Kingdom.

Despite continuing to train, she was unable to clear 1.60m again for seven years. What had begun as a physical challenge gradually became a mental barrier.

There were moments when the frustration became so great that she considered leaving the sport altogether. Yet she continued.

The decision to stay with high jump eventually changed the direction of her career again. The bar that had once seemed impossible began to move upwards, centimetre by centimetre.

Her latest record in Japan is therefore about more than the difference between 1.74m and 1.75m. It represents years of persistence, setbacks, recovery and belief.

A season of progress

The Asian Games record did not come in isolation. It followed a strong run of performances in 2026, including a victory at the Oman Athletics Grand Prix in Muscat on September 5.

Competing at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, Al Mughairi won the women’s high jump after clearing 1.73m. Athletes from countries across Asia, Africa and Europe took part in the meeting, with the result recorded by World Athletics.

That performance came after her previous national record of 1.74m, listed by the Oman Athletics Association as the senior women’s high jump national mark.

Then came Nagoya. One centimetre higher. One record rewritten. And, perhaps more importantly for Al Mughairi, evidence that the work was continuing to produce results.

‘Anything is achievable’

Standing on the track in front of a packed stadium in Japan, Al Mughairi said she felt the weight and excitement of representing Oman.

“I feel proud to represent Oman at this stage,” she said. “The feeling of being on the track in front of the filled stadium and energetic atmosphere is something I will never forget.”

For an athlete who once contemplated walking away from the sport, the moment carried particular meaning. “I am grateful for all the highs and lows,” she said. “But my performance and presence at this competition is proof that anything is achievable if you keep pushing and believe in your dreams.”

That message is also what she wants young athletes to take from her journey. “If you are passionate about something and you are a dreamer, keep pushing and keep believing in yourself!” she says. “You are capable of accomplishing anything you put your mind to.”

The next bar

At 1.75m, Al Mughairi has established another landmark in her career. But she is not treating the new record as an ending.

The near miss at 1.80m in Nagoya has already given her another target. Beyond that lies an even bigger ambition — the Olympic dream of Los Angeles 2028. For now, however, there is time to appreciate what has been achieved.

A gymnast who discovered high jump at 14. A teenager who broke an Omani record only two months after trying the event. An athlete who spent years fighting through frustration and setbacks.

And now, on the Asian Games stage in Japan, an Omani woman clearing 1.75m and rewriting her own national record. The bar has moved by just one centimetre. Her journey has moved much further.