By Lori Ewing
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine sailed to her first world high jump gold medal on Sunday after a pair of second-place finishes, a remarkable achievement in a season disrupted by the war in her homeland.
The 21-year-old bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympics cleared 2.01 metres, missing on three attempts at 2.07, what would have been a personal best.
Eleanor Patterson, who arrived in Budapest with the world number one ranking, cleared 1.99m for silver, while Australia team mate Nicola Olyslagers also posted 1.99m, but took third on the countback.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe spoke earlier on Sunday about the difficulties facing Ukraine athletes, who have been forced to live and train abroad after Russia’s invasion in February 2022, which Moscow calls a “special military operation”.
Coe said the situation “makes me choke” and reiterated that he would not be changing his views on Russia and Belarus, a key staging area for the invasion, “anytime soon”.
Both countries are banned from athletics competitions.
“I’ve been an athlete, I was able to prepare in the safety and security of my home city. I was able when I needed to to travel abroad,” Coe said at the championships’ closing press conference.
“I cannot imagine what it must be like for athletes in Ukraine, to be dealing with this landscape. It’s an intolerable situation.”
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Toby Davis)
