Yaroslava Mahuchikh won Zagreb City Challenge, clearing 1.97 meters, and surpassing Eleanor Patterson and Angelina Topić in a tie for second place with 1.95 meters
After more than a decade, the high jump has returned to the spotlight at the Boris Hanžeković Memorial. Once upon a time, Blanka Vlašić would bring the crowd to their feet at the Mladost Stadium, but on Wednesday evening, a new generation of high jumpers, led by Olympic champion and world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh, did it next to the Zagreb Fountains.
The Ukrainian ultimately won the Zagreb City Challenge, clearing 1.97 meters, and surpassing former world champion Eleanor Patterson of Australia and bronze medalist Angelina Topić of Serbia at last year’s Tokyo World Championships in a tie for second place with 1.95 meters.
– The atmosphere was wonderful, I enjoyed it and I can’t wait to come back next year. The spectators were great, and there were a lot of Ukrainians. On my third attempt at 1.97 m, they cheered for me in Ukrainian and that gave me extra confidence, I knew I could do it. I told myself that it was “only” 1.97 and that I had jumped much higher in the past, including 2.10 m. Of course, I’m not satisfied with the result itself and I’m a bit disappointed that I didn’t clear two meters, but that will come. The shorter take-off area wasn’t a problem for me because I already have a pretty short take-off, and I really liked the surface itself because I felt that I could jump high on it, Mahuchikh said after the competition.
Photo: Antonio Bronić/BHM