Ukrainian high jumper and 2019 Piotr Nurowski Prize (PNP) winner Yaroslava Mahuchikh has won the gold medal at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Mahuchikh, 22, broke the world record in the women’s high jump earlier this year, and although her leap of 2m in the Stade de France was equalled by Australia’s Nicola Olyslagers, the Ukrainian won courtesy of clearing it first time compared to her nearest challenger succeeding on her third attempt.
Mahuchikh was joined on the podium by fellow Ukrainian Iryna Gerashchenko, who shared the bronze with Australian Eleanor Patterson after they both had three successful jumps before failing to get over 1.98m.
Mahuchikh is the reigning world champion and was named the PNP winner in 2019, awarded by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) to the best young European athletes.
Following on from her 2017 European Youth Olympic Festival gold medal success in Győr, Hungary, Mahuchikh won the Summer PNP award in 2019 after becoming the youngest athlete to win a Diamond League event and taking home silver from the World Championships.
EUROPEAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEES 48th General Assembly Warsaw (POL), 25-26 October 2019. Official Dinner on the occasion of the 48th EOC General Assembly and the 100 years of the Polish Olympic Committee Gala. Grand Theatre National Opera.
She has since won gold at last year’s European Games in Kraków-Małopolska 2023.
Speaking after her Olympic success, she said: “Before the Games there was a lot of pressure from outside, but I tried not to think about that. I felt I was ready, I felt comfortable on the track and I smiled before every attempt because I just enjoyed the atmosphere.
“It is the Olympic Games and I wanted to win this gold medal. From my childhood, my coach told me to always jump all heights at the first attempt because it can play a different game. Today I jumped all on my first attempts and it brought me a gold medal.”She added: “The sky is the limit. We continue working. I want to improve my world record and maybe win a lot of medals for my country.”
On the previous night at the Stade de France, fellow European Games gold medallists Lieke Klaver and Femke Bol were part of the Dutch team which successfully won the women’s 4x400m relay.
Elsewhere in Paris at the magnificent Grand Palais, Máté Tamás Koch, Gergely Siklósi and Tibor Andrásfi repeated their men’s team épée success at Kraków-Małopolska 2023 by clinching Olympic gold.
