PARIS — Ukraine’s top high jumper set a world record Sunday to become world champion, giving her good reason to believe she can bring an Olympic gold medal home to her war-torn country.
During a Diamond League competition in Paris, Yaroslava Mahuchikh broke a record that had stood for 37 years by jumping 2.10 meters (6.88 feet) in one of the last major exercises before the Olympics.
The previous record of 2.09 was set in Rome in 1987 by Bulgaria’s Stefka Kostadinova.
“When I came into this competition, I felt like I could jump 2.07 meters and maybe 2.10 meters,” Mahuchikh said. “In the end, I put Ukraine in the history of athletics.”
The 22-year-old Mahuchikh and world indoor champion Nicola Olyslagers both jumped 2.01 meters on their second attempt. After Olyslagers failed three times at 2.03, Mahuchikh cleared that height to secure the victory.
She then jumped 2.07 meters, setting a Ukrainian record. The bar was raised to 2.10 meters, which she cleared on her first attempt.
Mahuchikh left her hometown of Dnipro shortly after the war with Russia began. Like virtually all top athletes in her country, she trained abroad while watching the war in her homeland. She has been vocal about the role Ukrainian sports can play in giving hope to those fighting for Ukraine’s survival.
“We are all fighting for our people, for our soldiers,” she said last month after defending her European title. “We want to show everyone in the world that we will continue to fight, that the war in Ukraine is unfortunately not over. We have to fight on every front to show that Ukraine is the strongest.”
World Athletics, a global organization that promotes track sports, has banned all Russian athletes from next month’s Olympic track meet. Mahuchikh agrees.
Last weekend, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe visited Kiev and reiterated his support for Ukraine’s efforts in the war.
“Nothing I’ve seen tells me that the decision we’ve made isn’t the right decision, but the right decision on behalf of our sport,” Coe said.