High jumper Mahuchikh, other medal-winning Ukrainians put attention on war

Paris 2024: Women’s high jump gold medalist Yaroslava Mahuchikh, of Ukraine

Yaroslava Mahuchikh, the Ukrainian world-record high jumper, may have just won Olympic gold, but she and other winning athletes from Ukraine are not resting in Paris — they’re trying to shine the spotlight on the war tearing apart their country.

“The Olympic Games are about peace,” she said. “But Russia didn’t stop, and during these Games, there were massive attacks on Ukrainian cities.”

These missile strikes forced Mahuchikh to spend the last two and a half years mostly abroad as she focused on her main goal — the Olympic gold, which she won Sunday.

She trained far from her family, including in Portugal, Estonia, Belgium and Germany. She occasionally comes to her hometown of Dnipro in eastern Ukraine, but every time she left the country, she didn’t know when she would return.

“To achieve such high results on the international stage, you need to train abroad,” Mahuchikh said. “And it is very sad, and I really want us to be able to train fully at home for the next Olympic cycle.”

Despite the hardships, she succeeded, saying that the war gave her motivation and a greater purpose to represent her country. But the success was bittersweet.

When she broke a 37-year-old world record last month, jumping 2.10 meters (6.88 feet), her joy was brief.

“We were happy on the first evening, but the next day … unfortunately, we have a very aggressive enemy,” she said. “Russia struck Ohmatdyt. And honestly, there was no joy anymore,” referring to the missile attack in Kyiv last month that hit the largest children’s hospital in Ukraine.

Sunday was a successful day for Ukraine at the Olympics, with three athletes from the country scoring medals in athletics. Fellow high jumper Iryna Gerashchenko won bronze, and Mykhaylo Kokhan scored the bronze in the hammer throw.

Russian athletes, competing as neutrals because of the war on Ukraine, also have won medals at the Paris Games. The first was silver for tennis players Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider in women’s doubles Sunday.

Neutral athletes from Belarus, a key Russian ally, also won gold and silver medals in the men’s and women’s trampoline competitions, respectively, on Friday, and Belarusian rower Yauheni Zalaty won a silver Saturday.

Mahuchikh and other Ukrainian athletes have spoken out against the presence of Russian competitors at the Paris Games.

The three Ukrainian athletes who have won medals came to the Ukrainian house dubbed Volia Space on Monday. They said that they were short on sleep because while the attention lasts, they are trying to give as many interviews as possible, raising awareness about the war.

“It is very important to win and keep winning,” Mahuchikh said. “It is difficult for Ukrainian athletes to focus solely on sports, our thoughts are at home with our families.”

The 22-year-old athlete said there are still many things that could be conquered.

“Next is only the number of awards and to jump higher and higher,” she said. HANNA ARHIROVA, PARIS, MDT/AP