Ukraine's Mahuchikh wins Olympic gold in high jump
Yaroslava Mahuchikh triumphs in the French capital (photo: facebook.com/EuropeanAthletics)
Ukrainian track and field athlete Yaroslava Mahuchikh became the Olympic champion in high jump in Paris. Her compatriot Iryna Herashchenko won the bronze medal.
The athletes started with a height of 1.86 meters. Mahuchikh decided to skip this milestone, while her compatriot Herashchenko easily conquered the height on her first attempt. At 1.91 meters, both Ukrainians performed confidently and then took 1.95 meters in cold blood.
Before the 1.98m mark, the circle of medal contenders narrowed to eight. Nicola Olislagers of Australia was the first to conquer this milestone, and then Mahuchikh joined her on the first attempt. Herashchenko and Australian Eleanor Patterson, however, did not go further, but shared the bronze medal.
The next height was 2.00 meters. The Ukrainian athlete conquered the milestone on the first try. Instead, the Australian athlete spun the intrigue to the maximum - she failed her first two attempts, but continued the competition to the 2.02 m bar on the third.
Olislagers failed to conquer the height in three attempts, so Mahuchikh automatically became the champion. After two unsuccessful jumps, the Ukrainian raised the bar to 2.04 meters. She did not succeed in breaking the barrier, but the Ukrainian athlete had already fulfilled her main task at that time.
Olympic Games 2024, women's high jump:
1. Yaroslava Mahuchikh (Ukraine) - 2.00 m
2. Nicola Olislagers (Australia) - 2.00 m
3. Eleanor Patterson (Australia) - 1.95 m
3. Iryna Herashchenko (Ukraine) - 1.95 m
Who is Yaroslava Mahuchikh
A native of Dnipro, world record holder in high jump. She is the champion of Ukraine (2021), Europe (2022, 2024), and the planet (2023).
As a child, she also ran hurdles and long jumps. Her first international success came in 2018 when she won the European Youth Championships with a record height of 1.94 meters. In May 2019, she became the youngest-ever winner of the Diamond League stage. She won bronze at the 2020 Olympic Games.
She won the Diamond League finals twice (2022 and 2023). At this year's elite competition in Paris, she broke the world record (2.09 m) held by Bulgarian Stefka Kostadinova, 37 years old. Mahuchikh's new benchmark is 2.10 meters.
Earlier, Khyzhniak made it to the final of the Olympic Games in light heavyweight boxing.
