Making his Olympic début like the others, Mutaz Essa Barshim was 20 years old at the time of the London Games. His best mark of 2.35 metres, set at the 2011 Asian Athletics Championships in Kobe, was 0.04 metres over the "A" qualifying standard to automatically qualify in the men's high jump. Barshim was drawn to compete in Qualifying Group A on 5 August. His best height cleared was 2.26 metres on his second try, tying him for eighth in Qualifying Group A. Barshim's result advanced him to compete for a top 12 placing in the 7 August final. Six athletes, including Barshim, all tied for a mark of 2.29 metres after missing the 2.33 metres mark, and the final result of the high jump was decided by a count-back with the fewest failed jumps factored into the final result. Barshim thus tied for the bronze medal with Robbie Grabarz of Great Britain and Derek Drouin of Canada.