Ukrainian Athlete Yaroslava Mahuchikh Becomes World Vice-Champion in Athletics

Ukrainian athlete Yaroslava Mahuchikh secured the silver medal at the 2024 World Indoor Athletics Championships, held in Glasgow, Scotland. She clinched the second spot in the women's high jump event, clearing the bar at a height of 1 meter 97 centimetres, as reported by the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine.

From the outset of the competition, the 22-year-old Ukrainian reaffirmed her status as a top contender. Mahuchikh arrived at the championships as the leader of the global season (2.04 meters) and the defending champion. She effortlessly cleared heights of 192, 195, and 197 centimetres on her first attempts. Australian athlete Nicola Oslagers was seen as her main rival.

27-year-old Nicola Oslagers managed to clear the 1 meter 97 centimetre mark only on her second attempt, intensifying the competition with the Ukrainian athlete. Later, Oslagers set a personal record by clearing the bar at a height of 199 centimetres, using all three attempts. Meanwhile, Mahuchikh couldn't match this height and settled for the second position.

"I have mixed emotions, to be honest. I'm glad to have the silver medal because you have to appreciate what you have now. Any medal is important right now, so I'm happy to have silver. I'm not very satisfied with the height result: there were two starts that showed I was ready for a higher height. And here it is 1.97 meters. But we move on, we work, we will try to show higher results," Mahuchikh noted in an interview with Ukrainian media after the awards ceremony.

Another Ukrainian athlete, Yulia Levchenko, finished in ninth place. The 26-year-old athlete from Bakhmut stopped at a height of 184 centimetres.

Recall that The Gaze named Yaroslava Mahuchikh one of the top ten athletes in Ukraine. She notably won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games, clearing 2 meters. In 2022, she became the world indoor champion, clearing a height of 2.02 meters, and in 2023, she claimed the world championship title with a result of 2.01 meters. Over the past two years, Mahuchikh has won eight Diamond League stages, consistently jumping over 2 meters. Thus, ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, the Ukrainian athlete is one of the main favourites for the gold medal.