Doha – Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Woo Sang-hyeok took home gold in the second edition of the What Gravity Challenge held in Doha yesterday evening. They won the competition with jumps of 2.02m and 2.29m in the women’s and men’s sections respectively.
The World Athletics Silver Tour event showcased some of the world’s top high jump talent and gives us a glimpse of what we can expect at the World Championships later this year.
Mahuchikh stands out as the heavy favourite to win the World Championships. She’s coming off a season where she set the world record and took home Olympic gold. Additionally, her 2.02m jump yesterday is the new world lead.
Going into the competition, both she and Australian Nicola Olyslagers had cleared 2.01m.
Eleanor Patterson grabbed silver on the women’s side with a jump of 1.96m. Yulia Levchenko took home the bronze, also clearing 1.96m but requiring more attempts.
In the men’s competition, Woo cleared 2.15m, 2.20m, 2.23m, and 2.26m perfectly on his way to clearing 2.29m. Woo has now won four international competitions in a row, dating back to the World Indoor Championships in March, where he tied his season best of 2.31m. His next competition will be the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships, being held in his home country of South Korea at the end of the month.
Japan’s Ryoichi Akamatsu took home the silver medal with a leap of 2.26m. The Jamaican Raymond Richards took home third, also with a leap of 2.26m.
The current world leader remains Oleh Doroshchuk with his 2.34m from March, which won the Indoor European Championships.
Unfortunately, the event’s founder, and last year’s winner, Mutaz Barshim, pulled out after sustaining an injury shortly before the event. Barshim is widely considered one of the greatest high jumpers of all time, with nine medals between the Olympics and World Championships.
His personal best of 2.43m remains second of all time, only behind Javier Sotomayor’s world record of 2.45m set in 1993. Nobody has jumped 2.40m in the past 10 years. Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi has the highest jump in this time at 2.39m.
The What Gravity Challenge has expanded to include a second event this year. We’ll see many of the world’s top jumpers line up again for the Hochsprung Heilbronn High Jump Meet on August 9 in Heilbronn, Germany.
What Gravity Challenge 2025 Results
Women’s
- Gold: Yaroslava Mahuchikh – 2.02m
- Silver: Elanor Patterson – 1.96m
- Bronze: Yulia Levchenko – 1.96m
Men’s
- Gold: Woo Sang-hyeok – 2.29m
- Silver: Ryoichi Akamatsu – 2.26m
- Bronze: Raymond Richards – 2.26m
