Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh completed her trophy cabinet by winning the women’s Olympic high jump gold medal, clearing 2.00 meters in front of an adoring crowd at the Stade de France.
Australian Nicola Olyslagers took the silver medal, while Ukraine’s Iryna Gerashchenko and Australia’s Eleanor Patterson shared the bronze.
Mahuchikh, who fled her home in Dnipro following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, continued her competitive career and claimed Olympic gold weeks after breaking a world record that had stood since 1987 with a leap of 2.10m.
The world champion cleared the winning height on her first attempt, securing the gold over the Australian by having fewer failures. She bowed to the crowd after attempting 2.04m but knocking the bar down.
Mahuchikh maintained her composure throughout the competition, even resting on the ground wrapped in a sleeping bag while her competitors took their turns.
Both Mahuchikh and Olyslagers cleared 1.98m without failures, but the Australian only managed to clear 2.00m on her third attempt, making it a head-to-head competition. Neither athlete could clear 2.02m, and Mahuchikh, with her eyes adorned in blue-and-yellow makeup reflecting her country’s colors, smiled after her attempt at 2.04m.
The bronze medal winners, who failed to clear 1.98m but had the fewest failed attempts during the competition, celebrated their podium finishes. Gerashchenko embraced her compatriot Mahuchikh after the event, and the pair jogged around the stadium with Ukrainian flags draped over their shoulders.
