Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh lauded for defying odds to win World Indoor high jump gold

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. 

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. 

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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.

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: