He arrived in Belgrade in extreme conditions, but this Saturday Yaroslava Mahuchikh dressed in the colors of the Ukrainian flag to celebrate gold in the high jump at the World Cup in the hall, the first in the country invaded by the Russian army.
As soon as she was crowned champion, the young athlete (20 years old) covered herself with the flag of her country and her first thoughts went to her compatriots, who have been suffering the war for three weeks.
“Before I jumped onto the track, my spirit was completely focused on Ukraine by virtue of the terrible events that are happening. This medal is first and foremost for my country, for my people, for my army. I am very proud to have been able to represent them,” said Mahuchikh, who is part of the group of six Ukrainian athletes present in Belgrade despite the war.
As a result of the conflict, the International Athletics Federation excluded athletes from Russia and Belarus from any international competition and until further notice, because of their government's support for Moscow.
The symbol is very strong because this success of Mahuchikh comes in a country, Serbia, which historically maintains strong ties of union with Russia. However, the celebration of the Ukrainian athlete was not disturbed by any incident in the stands.
On the contrary, the spectators who filled the Stark Arena in Belgrade gave a standing ovation to the athlete, as requested on Thursday by the patron saint of world athletics, Sebastian Coe, and his Serbian counterpart Veselin Jevrosimovic.
It is much more than a world title that the young Ukrainian woman has achieved, who had never before won a major international competition, although she had already taken the podium at the Tokyo-2020 Games (3rd) and the Doha-2019 Outdoor World Cup (2nd).
With a jump of 2.02 m, she overtook Australia's Eleanor Patterson (2.00 m) and Kazakh Nadezhda Dubovitskaya (1.98 m), despite Mahuchikh's ordeal to travel to the Serbian capital.
- “They are killing our country” -
Mahuchikh, who plans to settle in Germany with his mother and older sister, described after stepping off the podium his long journey to Serbia and “the nightmare” that he has lived since the start of the Russian attack.
“On February 24, I woke up to the sound of two explosions. I quickly called my parents and my coach. I understood that the Russians had started the war against the Ukrainian people. The situation was very difficult and I had to leave my city, Dnipro. At that time, I didn't think about training at all and didn't think it was possible to come to the World Cup. But I got a call from the Ukrainian Federation asking us to go to Belgrade to protect our country on the track. We then began a three-day journey by car under the bombs and accompanied by the sirens,” he said.
“They are killing our people, our country and our children, the future of Ukraine. I think that many people in Russia have to understand that this war in Ukraine is real good. I know that many Russians say it is false, but many of our cities have been destroyed. How can they say this?” , he questioned himself.
A story that aroused the admiration of his rivals. Patterson, silver, competed with nails painted in the colors of the Ukrainian flag as a token of support for the victims of the conflict.
“My heart is broken to think about what Ukrainians and their athletes are suffering,” said the Australian. “Winning the silver medal behind Yaroslava makes this podium even more special. I am proud of her, she has had to face many difficulties. I have a lot of respect for the Ukrainian athletes who have been able to come here. After the contest, I told Yaroslava that my heart is with her,” he added.
KN/DLO/MCD
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