The athlete who jumped into history

It was 4am when the drones and missiles finally fell silent over Yaroslava Mahuchikh’s hometown. The Ukrainian high jumper and Olympic gold medallist was huddled with her rescue cat in her apartment in the central city of Dnipro, just a few hours’ drive from the front line.

“The attack went on forever,” she said. “I didn’t sleep. But I had to get up to go to training. Of course, they weren’t the best jumps of my career. But I understood that I cannot live my life sitting at home, thinking about how bad my life is. If we all sit down, Ukraine will no longer exist.”

At just 24, Mahuchikh is already one of Ukraine’s most recognisable athletes and an unlikely role model for a generation of young Ukrainians growing up during wartime. She is the world record holder in the high jump and one of the most decorated athletes in Ukrainian track and field. In the summer of 2024, she cleared 2.10 metres, breaking a mark that had stood for 37 years. A month later, she won Olympic gold.

She is also one of the many who fled the country at the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukraine’s athletics federation picked her up from a village near Dnipro and drove for three days to get her out of the country. She was 21 at the time, already an Olympic bronze medallist. For the next three years, she lived in Portugal, Estonia and elsewhere in Europe, returning home only briefly between competitions.

But late last year, she decided she could no longer cope with being away from Ukraine. “When I am abroad, my mind is not on track; my mind is somewhere else, thinking about home,” she said. “Every time I see an alert for Dnipro, I start to worry for my parents. When they don’t answer me, I start to think, oh my gosh, no, no, no, please.”

“I know it is dangerous in Dnipro… but despite all the drones and missiles and air raid alerts, it is a miracle feeling to be back home. In Dnipro, my mind is there.” Mahuchikh’s decision reflects a dilemma facing many Ukrainians scattered across Europe since the invasion. More than 5.7 million remain refugees abroad, many with family still in Ukraine, while another 3.7 million are internally displaced.

Ukraine is also facing a demographic crisis. Its population, estimated at around 42 million before the war, has fallen to below 36 million, according to the Institute of Demography at Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences. Officials warn the population could fall to 25 million by 2051 unless millions of Ukrainians return. Ukraine’s government launched an initiative last year, centred on improving housing conditions and education, to lure people back.

For many Ukrainians abroad, returning now still feels impossible. For Mahuchikh, staying away felt worse. In her first interview since returning, she spoke of the importance of competing in front of a home crowd. “I want to give Ukrainians a show,” she said, wearing her signature blue eyeliner in the colours of Ukraine. “I want people to forget about everything that is happening outside this hall, just for a few hours.”

She also understands the influence she now has on younger Ukrainians watching her compete. “I have Ukrainian children standing behind me, watching me jump,” she said. “I don’t want to say I am a hero, but I am a role model. I want to help motivate them to be the best versions of themselves.”

It is a responsibility she relishes, but one she feels she can only appreciate when she is back in her home country. Recounting the months after she broke the world record two years ago, she said she “did not understand until I came home” how significant the achievement was.

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“When I went to the streets in Kyiv and Dnipro, and they said that they had jumped with me, and that they were so happy, I realised that that was why I jumped,” she said.

Recently, she competed in Kyiv for the first time since the invasion, winning the national indoor championships despite the continuing threat of Russian aerial attacks on the capital. The crowds cheered as she was announced at the start of the competition, and the 24-year-old stayed behind after her victory to take photographs with fans.

Mahuchikh’s role now extends beyond the stadium. The 24-year–old has donated large portions of her prize money to Ukrainian military units and rescue organisations. She also adopted a cat rescued from the frontline.

Last December, president Volodymyr Zelensky’s office awarded Mahuchikh the “National Legend of Ukraine” honour for her contribution to the country during wartime, placing her alongside figures such as heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk and former Ballon d’Or-winning footballer Andriy Shevchenko.

Speaking about ongoing international discussions over a possible peace settlement, she said she does not believe Vladimir Putin will stop the fighting. “What is the guarantee that in five years Russia won’t try to take more territory?” she asked. “What is the guarantee that they will not take my Dnipro? We don’t want to live under Russia. That is why we are fighting.”

For now, she is focusing on the next challenge. Her target is not simply another medal but the Olympic record, currently held by Russian athlete Yelena Slesarenko, who cleared 2.06 metres in Athens in 2004.

“It’s my goal for the Olympics in Los Angeles,” Mahuchikh said. “I want to break the Russian record. And I want to write Ukrainian names in history.” Then she plans to go home to Dnipro.