“Almost a year ago, Yaroslava Mahuchikh vowed to stop reading the news before the games because she was so upset by the stories and images of bloodshed in her country, Ukraine.
As one of the best high jumpers in the world, Mahuchikh knows that completing her routine, run, and shot requires a lot of attention, but she can still be drawn to the dangerous situation thousands of miles away from her home.
Perhaps it’s normal that when your country is at war, new missile attacks are launched all the time – some of which target the neighborhoods of your city.
“It was a challenge for me to compete after hearing about the rockets fired at civilians,” Mahuchikh told CNN Sports. “I thought about how many people died and how many people’s homes were destroyed. It’s difficult.”
That strategy — trying to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine before entering the region — paid off last year. Mahuchikh captured her first world title in August and then successfully defended her Diamond League final victory in September.
Obviously, she is now confident about the months ahead. These include the Millrose Championships in New York this week, the world indoor championships in Glasgow in March, and the Paris Olympics in July and August.”
“She’s not sure if she’ll be back in Ukraine then, as she’s spent most of the past two years bouncing between training bases across Europe. Because of the war, traveling has been a common theme in her life.
“I’m living out of a suitcase,” said Mahuchikh, “because when we go, we don’t have a home.”
Her family – her mother and sister – sometimes accompany the 22-year-old when she travels, but her father, like most Ukrainians, stays at home in Dnipro. Mahuchikh has been in trouble several times, especially when the Russians invaded the eastern city.
“My father,” she explained, “is sad for a lot of people; this is life now, this is how we live,” she explained. “And then move on with their lives. Sometimes my dad says, ‘Oh, you know, if the rockets come, it doesn’t matter, my life, maybe God is over.’ And I say, ‘My God, father, please don’t say that.'”
Dnipro repelled several deadly missile attacks during the invasion, with Russian forces targeting residential and medical facilities in the city.
Last August, the war crimes unit of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine stated that approximately 10,749 people were killed and 15,599 were injured in the war.
However, even though the war is still ongoing, Mahuchikh wants to go home to be with her family and friends.
“If I weren’t an international athlete, I think I would have gone to Ukraine,” she said. “But I have some goals and I will compete for my country. I competed for Ukraine; I think this is my goal and my mission.”
“The Russian invasion inspired national pride in Mahuchikh. At last year’s world championships, she wore blue and yellow (the colors of the Ukrainian flag) and supported a fundraiser to provide wheelchairs to disabled orphans in Ukraine.
She also hopes that by competing in the prestigious event and winning a gold medal, she will have the opportunity to highlight the problems of her country.
“I feel like I’m the ambassador for Ukraine and able to engage a lot of people on issues that concern the Ukrainian people today,” Mahuchikh said.
“Many families were hit by rocket attacks; sadly, many children have lost their parents or their parents have lost their children. Sadly, many athletes and coaches lost their lives in this war. But I want to help my country. This is the main point.”
Vadim Guttsait, Ukraine’s sports minister and head of the National Olympic Committee (NOC), said more than 400 Ukrainian athletes have died since the start of the conflict.
Mahuchikh believes that this year’s Olympics can allow Ukrainian athletes to spread the message of peace, even though the Olympics are also related to national issues.
In particular, the issue of whether or not players from Russia and Belarus, a major military launch site during the Ukraine conflict, can participate in the tournament has become a hot topic.”
In December of last year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that athletes from these two countries could participate in the Paris Olympics as neutral athletes if they met certain eligibility criteria.
For example, only individual athletes, not team athletes, can compete in the Olympics, and athletes who actively support war or are contracted to their country’s military are excluded.
However, the international single sports federations are the main factor in deciding whether Russian and Belarusian athletes will participate in the Olympics. World Athletics, the sport’s governing body, has banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from the competition – meaning they will not be able to compete in foot races in Paris anytime soon.
This is a controversial topic: some, such as the governing board of the International Olympic Committee, believe that individual athletes should not be barred from competing because of their passports, while sports teams representing Ukrainian players argue that some form of Russian involvement is more akin to the “propaganda” of the country’s machine.
Mahuchikh praised the position of World Athletics, saying that the neutral flag is an effective way to hide the national identity of the athletes. “I look at the Russian athletes… I see all the cities, all the lives destroyed by the Russian people, the Russian Federation,” she said, adding that it was “difficult” to compete with athletes from Russia and Belarus.
Last month, more than 200 Ukrainian athletes wrote a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron urging that Russian and Belarusian athletes be banned from the Olympics.
However, local and the French government have no control over who can take part in the Games, and Paris 2024 organizers have said the responsibility rests with the International Olympic Committee and the international sports federations.
Gutset previously said Ukraine could cancel the Olympics if Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete, but no final decision has been made yet.
Mahuchik opposed the move, calling the Olympics a symbol of “worldwide peace.” She won bronze in Tokyo three years ago and will be one of Ukraine’s brightest stars in Paris, aiming to win her country’s first high jump gold medal.
“Every athlete wants to compete, every athlete wants to win a gold medal,” Mahouchih said. Of course I have a goal to win and hope to win this medal in my sports career.
Before the upcoming indoor season, he adjusts his technique and shortens his path to compensate for the speed as he approaches the bar. He started his season last week in Cottbus, Germany, finishing first with a world height of 2 meters 4 centimeters (about 6.69 feet), and will play the new technology in Millrose. That’s Mahuchikh’s main focus, but in the long run she has bigger ambitions in her career, namely Stefka Kostadinova’s world record 2 meters 9 centimeters (about 6.86 feet).
The Bulgarian athlete’s record has been held since 1987, making it one of the world’s longest sporting records. Mahuchikh has watched Karsten Warholm and Mondo Duplantis (both of whom, like him, are sponsored by Puma) set their own records in the 400m hurdles and Mondo Duplantis’ pole vault record, and now He hopes to join that club.
“I know one day I’ll jump to 2.10,” he said. “I want to join this family of world record holders.”
