High Jump, Women

Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh was the favorite as she just broke the world record less than a month prior in the Paris-Charléty Diamond League meeting, the 37-year-old WR of 2.09 m that Bulgarian’s Stefka Kostadinova set at the 1987 World Championships in Roma. The 2020 Olympic bronze medalist, she had won the 2023 World Championships and the 2022 and 2024 European Championships. Her biggest challenge was expected to come from the Tokyo silver medalist, Nicola Olyslagers, who was then Nicola McDermott.

In the final, eight jumpers remained after 1.95 metres, with five of them having been clear at that height – Mahuchikh, Olyslagers, Iryna Herashchenko (UKR), Eleanor Patterson (AUS), and Vashti Cunningham (USA). Only Mahuchikh and Olyslagers, however, could clear 1.98. The bronze medal was shared by Herashchenko and Patterson, with Cunningham in fifth due to an early miss.

At 2.00 metres, Mahuchikh cleared on her first attempt, which was the gold medal winning jump. Olyslagers also cleared the height, but on her third attempt. The bar was moved to 2.02 metres, with both jumpers missing two attempts. Olyslagers then missed a third try, which left her with the silver medal. Mahuchikh had the bar moved to 2.04 metres, but missed her only remaining attempt. The four medals were split between Ukraine and Australia. Mahuchikh noted that her medal was for all the Ukrainian sportsmen who had died fighting in the Russia-Ukraine War.