Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh can close the most successful year of her career on Sunday, December 1, with the title of female athlete of the year, competition category. But her dearest wish, she explains to AFP, would be to see peace reign in her war-torn country.
Proud to represent her compatriots “in order to give them good vibes”the 23-year-old young woman had a miraculous season, with two exploits achieved in Paris in the space of a few weeks. On July 7, Mahuchikh broke the 37-year-old world record in her discipline, with a successful jump of 2.10 m at the Charléty stadium, before being crowned Olympic champion at the Stade de France on August 4. “Paris will be in my heart all my life”she told AFP on Monday from Ukraine via Zoom. Her two triumphs seem to form a luminous memory even as she spoke from Dnipro, her hometown, not spared from the destruction caused by the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, decided by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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“I see damaged buildings, destroyed buildings, I say that and I want to cry”she describes. “A few weeks ago, rockets hit a building just 200 meters from my house. It was so loud!” “You know, our people are very strong, but I live in hope that it ends as soon as possible and with victory”underlines Mahuchikh, who hesitated before returning to Dnipro, in east-central Ukraine. The athlete left her country and her family shortly after the invasion, a huge heartbreak according to her.
Fly like a swallow
“Coming home was a big question, because every day there were air raid sirens and rocket fire.”she says. “But this is my home! This is the place where I grew up and I want to come back to my home and to my people. I’ve spent almost my whole life here.” “I am 23 years old and, of course, these should be the best years of my life. But those who are the same age as me cannot enjoy a normal life. We cannot go to the cinema and enjoy ‘an entire session, for example, because there are air raid sirens and we have to take shelter’deplores Mahuchikh.
Me: I’m coming home and I’ll just rest
Me too: trip to Kyiv, one meeting, 2 interviews, make-up, recording of the show, trip to Dnipro, trip back to Kyiv, interview, podcast, trip abroad, interview, interview, interview, Dnipro, the beginning of training… ud83dudc83?
Well, let it be ud83dude0c pic.twitter.com/4ViS1WuLQM
— Yaroslava Mahuchikh (@YaraMahuchikh) https://twitter.com/YaraMahuchikh/status/1841394323822100938?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The woman who also won the outdoor and indoor world title had to train abroad like many of her colleagues, but she contributed to the war effort. The young athlete helped fund wheelchairs for disabled orphans and the money she won at the Olympics was distributed “to our army and to an animal shelter”one of her passions, she explains. To evoke her love for high jumping, she uses an animal analogy. “I’m ready to fly like a swallow“, she said. “Your body takes off for a few seconds, you fly… it’s really fantastic for those seconds”.
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The star jumper also visited the injured in kyiv and Dnipro, her gold medal around her neck, which she was also previously able to show with emotion to her father. “When you start talking about the war, you see how their faces change. I try not to say anything about the war, because I know they saw a lot of things, bad things.”
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