In recent years, there has been no getting past Yaroslava Mahuchikh in the women's high jump. Since her breakthrough season in 2021, the Ukrainian has established herself as the leading light in her discipline, picking up the series titel in 2022 and 2023 and notching up nine victories from a possible 15 over the past two seasons.
Yet as she headed to Stockholm for her first competition of 2024 last weekend, Mahuchikh knew the pressure was on. It wasn't just that she was going up against longtime rival Nicola Olyslagers, it was also that, having started her season surprisingly late, the Ukrainian needed a victory.
As she explained at the pre-meeting press conference, Mahuchikh had passed on the early-season meetings in order to focus on training, and in particular improving her run-up. That meant that two meetings into the season, it was not she who led the high jump standings, but Serbian prodigy Angelina Topic, who had won both of the opening two competitions in Doha and Marrakech.
With the Olympics looming and Topic pulling away in the Diamond League standings, Mahuchikh was keen to start her season with a bang. "I am ready to jump high," she said.
And jump high she did. Going up against Olyslagers at the BAUHAUS-Galan, Mahuchikh delivered a statement performance as she cleared 2.00m at the second attempt, clearing the two-metre mark for the tenth time in her Diamond League career.
Having made two attempts to clear 2.03m, Mahuchikh then retired after feeling some pain in her hamstring. Yet she still ended with the highest outdoor mark posted this year, and a crucial opening win on the Road to the Final.
"I was very excited about this competition because it was my first competition in a really important year. 2.00m is not excellent, but it is a great start," she said.
