The 20-year-old athlete, who had just fled her birthplace of Dnipro after it had been attacked by Russia, cleared 2.02 meters (6 feet, 7 1/2 inches) to add the outdoor silver to the world gold she had won indoors in March.
With her silver-medal performance at the global championships on Tuesday night, Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh brought good news to her war-torn nation.
Shortly after fleeing her birthplace of Dnipro, which had been attacked by Russia, the 20-year-old cleared 2.02 metres (6 feet, 7 1/2 inches), adding the outdoor silver to the indoor world gold she earned in March.
Eleanor Patterson of Australia, who hit a lifetime high and won the gold, needed one more try than Mahuchikh to reach 2.02.
After failing to advance at 2.04 (6-8 1/2), Mahuchikh lay on the mat for a brief period with her hands covering her face, yet this scarcely felt disappointing.
She is one of 22 Ukrainian athletes competing in the championships this week in Eugene. All of them have spent a lot of time preparing away from home, with Mahuchikh most recently practising in California after trips in Serbia, Germany, and Turkey.
Iryna Gerashchenko, a member of her squad, came in fourth place after a remarkable comeback considering the circumstances she was in after bombs began dropping in Kyiv. She departed without her spikes and trained for a while in tennis shoes after finding refuge in her parents’ basement for approximately a week.
Mahuchikh’s silver came the evening after Ukrainian Andriy Protsenko, who was imprisoned in his hometown of Kherson for nearly six weeks while it was occupied by Russia, won bronze in the men’s high jump.
It let me understand that anything is feasible, “stated
