Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh won an emotional women's high jump gold at the World Athletics Indoor Championships.
Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh battled the 'total panic' of the ongoing war in her country to clinch an emotional gold in the high jump at the World Indoor Championships on Saturday.Β
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist was forced to flee her home, hide out in a cellar and eventually make the 2,000km trip over three days to Belgrade to face what she dubbed her front line.Β
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The reigning European indoor high jump champion, who won world outdoor silver in Doha in 2019, left her home in Dnipro three weeks ago as the Russia-Ukraine conflict escalated.
Mahuchikh found her way to Serbia after "hundreds of phone calls, many direction changes, explosions, fires, and air raid sirens".
The 20-year-old produced a world-leading clearance of 2.02m to claim the title in Belgrade. Following this feat, Mahuchikh had an emotional celebration in the Stark Arena, with the crowd rising for a standing ovation with a handful of Ukrainian flags fluttering.
What a moment ππ
Yaroslava Mahuchikh πΊπ¦ clears a world-leading 2.02m in the high jump and beats π¦πΊ to victory!
The 20-year-old secures Ukraine its first ever gold medal at the β¨ pic.twitter.com/o95dqBUb6B
Australia's Eleanor Patterson claimed silver with 2.00m, with Kazakhstan's Nadezhda Dubovitskaya taking bronze (1.98).
"To win a silver behind Yaroslava makes it even more special," said Patterson, who had painted her nails with a blue and yellow love heart in support of Ukraine.
"She's had to deal with such hardships that no one deserves to, so I'm incredibly proud of her too. I'm in the same hotel as the Ukrainian team, and I was able to see them beforehand and exchange small smiles and little gestures of support," she added.
Mahuchikh, 20, is one of an all-female, six-strong Ukraine team in Belgrade.
Following this achievement, netizens hailed the Ukrainian athlete for defying all odds to make her country proud. Here's a look at some of the reactions:
Gold medal for Ukraine! πΊπ¦
Ukraineβs Yaroslava Mahuchikh cleared 2.02m to win in the high jump at the in Belgrade, Serbia.
What a moment. pic.twitter.com/LMn9NU7VXW
Standing ovation for the Ukrainian national anthem played in honor of Yaroslava Mahuchikh for her gold medal in high jump at the world athletics indoor championship in Belgrade pic.twitter.com/lGcQCl7EXL
β amb Yahel Vilan (@AmbassadorVilan)π₯ππYaroslava Mahuchikh overcame "total panic" of the war in to win high jump gold in the World Indoor Championships today in Serbia. She said she was extra motivated to win for πΊπ¦ after leaving her Dnipro cellar for the 2000km drive to Belgrade.https://t.co/61eL8zjeJm
β πΊπ¦Paula Chertokπ½πΊπ¦ (@PaulaChertok)What a remarkable young woman Yaroslava Mahuchikh is. Fled from Russian bombs in Ukraine, spent 3 days travelling to Belgrade on the congested routes out of her home country. And won the World Indoor gold, "for the people of Ukraine". She knows she now cannot return home. pic.twitter.com/vMDwodymzi
β Katherine Downes (@KDownesSport)World indoor champion! π₯
Yaroslava Mahuchikh πΊπ¦ clears a world lead of 2.02m to win high jump gold at the ! pic.twitter.com/9WHT3EbLm5
Incredible resilience by Ukraineβs Yaroslava Mahuchikh to win the gold medal in the high jump at . πΊπ¦πΊπ¦πΊπ¦ pic.twitter.com/rpOjlXSEGZ
β Rich Sands (@Sands)Victory for Ukraineβs Yaroslava Mahuchikh in the womenβs high jump. Great to see πΊπ¦ pic.twitter.com/q7U07oXnL2
β Noel Rock (@NoelRock)Ukraineβs Yaroslava Mahuchikh her first indoor high jump world title for after scaling her SB of 2.02m at the
Surreal moment for her in at the stark arena. pic.twitter.com/xYSEyCbsLX
Emotional scenes here in as Yaroslava Mahuchikh wins gold for Ukraine πΊπ¦ pic.twitter.com/mr7iTba5vG
β David Gillick (@DavidGillick)When sport means more than sport ππ Huge congrats to HJ Champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh π₯ It took her 3 days to reach Belgrade by car and she doesn't know when she will be home again... pic.twitter.com/19INrMvYpb
β Dr. Niamh Cummins (@CumminsNM)Yaroslava Mahuchikh from Dnipro, Ukraine spent days in a cellar when the bombs & explosions increased. It took 3 days to get to Belgrade. In a team of just 6 women, she won π₯ for Ukraine in the high jump here at , all this and sheβs just 20! πΊπ¦ ππ» https://t.co/z1GdKhlrTw
β David Gillick (@DavidGillick)Incredible to her how Yaroslava Mahuchikh woke up to two explosions on Feb 24 before travelling out of Dnipro to make it at the World Indoor Champs πΊπ¦
She now has a gold medal π₯ pic.twitter.com/TkACDBfy9I
Inspirational and symbolic victory for Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine at the World Indoor Champs in Belgrade.
Olympic champion Mariya Lasitskene of Russia was barred from competing despite her ANA status. pic.twitter.com/wOpW19AMBZ