Despite still being just 24-years-old, Yaroslava Mahuchikh has reigned the women’s high jump for years already, taking golds at every major competition.
But in Birmingham she could take her dominance to a new level by winning her third consecutive gold at the European Athletics Championships.
European record - 2.10m, Yaroslava Mahuchikh (UKR), 2.10m
European lead - 2.03m, Yaroslava Mahuchikh (UKR), 2.03m
Championship record - Tia Hellebaut (BEL), Venelina Veneva-Mateeva (BUL), Blanka Vlasic (CRO), 2.03m
Roma 2024 medallists:
- Yaroslava Mahuchikh (UKR), 2.01m
- Angelina Topic (SRB), 1.97m
- Iryna Gerashchenko (UKR), 1.95m
Five names to watch:
- Yaroslava Mahuchikh (UKR)
- Angelina Topic (SRB)
- Marija Vukovic (MNE)
- Maria Zodzik (POL)
- Iryna Gerashchenko (UKR)
When opening her indoor season back in January, Mahuchikh cleared 2.03m to set up for yet another dominant season where she would look to take gold in Birmingham.
So far this year she has only not won one competition, which was the London Diamond League where she still cleared 2.01m but was beaten by Australia’s Nicola Olyslagers on countback.
Mahuchikh has cleared 2.00m or higher in five of her nine competitions this season, setting her up for another title fight.
Angelina Topic is looking to be her most likely rival for gold as she cleared 2.00m for the first time in February, though the Serb’s and Mahuchikh’s head-to-head record is 28-2 to the Ukrainian.
The two often find themselves battling for medals, even sharing the bronze at the Tokyo World Athletics Championships just last year, in a rivalry that will continue for years for the 24 and 21-year-old.
However, Montenegro’s Marija Vukovic is one of the athletes that could cause an upset and bump the two young athletes off the top step of the podium.
In 2022 Vukovic took silver at the European Athletics Championships with a clearance of 1.95m, but this season she jumped a new national record of 1.98m before equaling the height again just weeks later.
Poland’s Maria Zodzik, however, is aiming to make her first European podium after taking silver at the world championships last year, out jumping both Mahuchikh and Topic.
The Pole has also cleared 1.98m, with many clearances just below, including a 1.96m jump at the London Diamond League, to demonstrate her good form heading into Birmingham.
It would be unwise to also count out 2024 bronze medallist Iryna Gerashchenko who’s best jump this year is 1.97m, though she has also found some inconsistency with the Ukrainian clearing just 1.85m in Zagreb in June.
With Sweden’s Louise Ekman and Germany’s Christina Honsel clearing 1.96m and 1.94m respectively this year, there however are endless podium combinations that we could see in Birmingham.
But there’s also a further 11 athletes that have cleared 1.90m or higher, making for what will be a difficult qualifying process to even just make the final.