Yaroslava Mahuchikh has been a dominant force in high jump since she was a teenager, now with a world record, Olympic gold, three senior world golds and five senior European golds at just 24-years-old.
But here are 10 things you may not know about the Ukrainian:
Leader of women’s field events
Mahuchikh is the only woman to break a world record in the field events in the last two years, with her record jump of 2.10m coming on 7 July 2024 at the Paris Diamond League.
Her best prior to breaking the world record was 2.06m which she set at 19-years-old in 2021, and since 2024 the Ukrainian has consistently cleared two metres each year.
Forced to flee
In February 2022 Mahuchikh was forced to flee her home and family due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Despite a harrowing three-day 2000km car journey to Belgrade, she still managed to clear 2.02m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships to take an emotional gold.
Yaroslava the robot
In 2023 Mahuchikh became the first Ukrainian in 10 years to win a World Athletics Championships gold medal when she cleared 2.01m in Budapest.
Then just days after her win, Estonia handed the Ukrainian armed forces a lifesaving de-mining robot named ‘Yaroslava’ in her honour.
Always time for a nap
While many athletes keep themselves hyped up between jumps, Mahuchikh takes a very different approach and can often be seen wrapped up in a blanket almost asleep.
She often comes into the competition at a higher height than many of her competitors and so takes herself aside to relax in her sleeping bag before her opening height.
Patriotic make up
All young athletes work to earn their country’s kit, but Mahuchikh also sometimes adds a small amount of blue and yellow eye liner.
Doing her makeup has become part of her pre-competition ritual no matter the time of day the competition takes place because it helps her focus.
Cross-sport solidarity
In February Mahuchikh stood in solidarity with Vladyslav Heraskevych, the Ukrainian skeleton athlete who was not allowed to compete due to his helmet, alongside her home town’s basketball team.
They all wore t-shirts with an image of the helmet that paid tribute to some of those killed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sport is in the family
Her parents were both athletes themselves, with her mother a gymnast, her father a canoeist, and her sister a karate competitor before she also joined athletics.
Growing up in a family that love sport will certainly have influenced the talented high jumper’s journey into athletics.
Coach partnership from the start
The world record holder was spotted as a great talent from a very young age, and settled with high jump after excelling in various other events.
Tetiana Stepanova has coached Mahuchikh since she was very young as the two are both from Dnipro.
Diamond League history
At just 17-years-old in 2019, Mahuchikh won her first Diamond League event with a jump of 1.96m in Doha defeating a strong field including future rival Nicola Olyslagers.
Her victory also made history as she became the youngest athlete to win a Diamond League discipline.
Undercover TikTok star
Outside of athletics Mahuchikh keeps her personal life relatively private, but she can’t resist the occasional TikTok dance.
As a Gen-Z, she often enjoys making videos of her dancing to various songs as a way to relax outside of competition.