Yaroslava Mahuchikh (Ярослава Олексіївна)

Yaroslava Mahuchikh Early Life

Yaroslava Mahuchikh, born in Dnipropetrovsk on September 19, 2001, is a Ukrainian high jumper. She’s the current women’s high jump world record holder and defending Olympic high jump champion. She set her world record jump at the 2024 Paris Diamond League, the same city where she went on the win Olympic Gold later that summer.

As a child, Mahuchikh was first introduced to sport when she started accompanying her sister to her karate classes. Karate wouldn’t turn out to be her lifelong passion, but after a few sessions, her sister also brought her to the local sports club, where she tried athletics for the first time.

Before specializing in the high jump, Mahuchikh tried a variety of events, including sprints, hurdles, and the long jump. On her early experiences in the sport, she said in an interview with European Athletics, “When I first started to compete in the high jump, I didn’t achieve outstanding results – I couldn’t even jump over 1.40m! A turning point came at the Ukrainian Championships when I jumped over 1.55m.”

She met her current coach, Tetiana Stepanova, when she was 11.

Yaroslava Mahuchikh Early Career

In 2016, Mahuchikh won the gold medal at the Ukrainian National Junior Athletics Championships at the age of 14.

In July 2017, she achieved international success by winning the gold medal at the 2017 IAAF World U18 Championships in Nairobi. Her jump of 1.92m tied the championship record of fellow Ukrainian jumper Iryna Kovalenko set in 2003.

The next year, Mahuchikh added two centimeters to her personal best, jumping 1.94 meters at the European U18 Championships. This jump broke the championship record and gave her a 10-centimeter margin of victory. By the end of the year, she raised her personal best another two centimeters to 1.96 meters.

Mahuchikh continued her dominance over the upcoming years, winning the Doha Diamond League in 2019 at the age of 17 and 226 days, becoming the youngest woman to win a Diamond League event. On 30 June of the same year, she became the youngest female jumper to clear 2.00 meters when she cleared the height at the Prefontaine Classic in the United States.

Later that summer, she jumped 2.04 m at the World Championships in Doha, taking home the silver medal and breaking the World U20 Record previously set by Heike Balckin in 1989. She also became the youngest ever field event medallist in World Championships history at the age of 18 years and 11 days.

Her miraculous season didn’t stop there. She went on to break the U20 World Record twice more in 2020, jumping 2.01 meters and 2.02 meters a few days later.

In February of 2021, Mahuchikh cleared 2.06 m at the Banskobystrická latka meeting in Slovakia. The height was the highest indoor mark by a woman since 2012 and a new Ukrainian national record. In August, she went on to win the bronze medal in the high jump at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

After the Russian Invasion

After the Russian Invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Mahuchikh left her homeland in March, undergoing a 2,000-kilometer journey over three days from Ukraine to Serbia to compete at the World Indoor Championships. She then moved to Germany to continue training during the war. In July, she received silver at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

In October, World Athletics announced that Mahuchikh and her compatriot high jumper Andriy Protsenko were shortlisted as finalists for the International Fair Play Committee’s (CIFP) Fair Play Award 2022 for displaying “incredible strength and resilience” to win silver and bronze medals respectively at the Oregon 2022 World Championships, despite facing huge challenges due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

First World Championship Gold and Continued Success

In August of 2023, Mahuchikh won gold at the World Championships held in Budapest.  She became the first Ukrainian to win a world title in 10 years, dating back to 2013. 

Later in the year, European Athletics named Mahuchikh a finalist for the 2023 Women’s European Athlete of the Year award for a second consecutive year.

Mahuchikh got off to a strong start to her season in 2024, jumping a world-leading 2.04-meter jump at the Internationales Springer-Meeting in Cottbus, Germany. Her excellent early-season form would be a flash of things to come. At the Diamond League event in Paris in July, she jumped 2.10m to break the world record. The previous mark of 2.09 meters was set by Stefka Kostadinova at the 1987 World Championships

The day after she broke the world record, a Russian missile attack on her home country killed at least 47 and injured many more. She released a statement on her Instagram saying, “No record will bring joy while Russia attacks my country every day, kills our soldiers, and takes the lives of children and their parents.”

In August, Mahuchikh would win the Olympic gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Paris with a leap of 2.00 meters.

Personal Life

In a 2023 interview, Mahuchikh announced that she was engaged to Nazar Stepanov, the son of her coach, Tetiana Stepanov.  

Mahuchikh braids her hair into pigtails before each competition, which has developed into a pre-competition ritual.

She has expressed aspirations to become a coach someday after she’s done competing.

She loves cats and volunteers at local animal shelters in her spare time.  

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Does Yaroslava Mahuchikh Train?

After leaving Ukraine in 2022 at the start of the war with Russia, Mahuchikh moved to Germany for training. In a June 2024 Interview with The Guardian, she reported that she was currently training and living in Portugal.

How Tall is Yaroslava Mahuchikh?

Mahuchikh is listed as 180 centimeters tall (5’11”) on her 2024 European Championships page.

What Is Yaroslava Mahuchikh’s Age?

Mahuchikh was born on September 19, 2001. As of May 13, 2025, she is 24 years old. She was 22 when she won the Olympic Gold medal in Paris and broke the world record.

Who Is Yaroslava Mahuchikh’s Coach?

Yaroslava Mahuchikh has been working with Tetiana Stepanova since she was 13. She also works with Tetiana’s husband Serhii Stepanov.

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