SAINT-DENIS, France – Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikhwho was forced to flee her country due to the war with Russia, won gold in Paris Olympics on Sunday.
She had the perfect partner to celebrate with: teammate Iryna Gerashchenko, who shared the bronze medal. The pair ran around the track waving their Ukrainian flags, just the two of them, receiving a standing ovation at the Stade de France.
It was Ukraine’s first individual gold at these Summer Games, following a victory in women’s team saber fencing.
It was a big night for Ukraine in athletics, with Mykhaylo Kokhan also winning a bronze medal in the hammer throw – doubling the country’s medal tally from three to six in total.
The three Ukrainians shared a big hug after the hammer throw decision and posed together on the track with blue and yellow flags.
Mahuchikh cleared 2.00 meters to finish ahead of Nicola Olyslagers of Australia, who also cleared 2.00 but missed all three attempts at 2.02.
Eleanor Patterson of Australia and Gerashchenko shared the bronze with 1.95.
Mahuchikh considered jumping again and could have tried to break the world record of 2.10 that she scored less than a month ago in another Paris stadium. But then she stopped and started celebrating. Gerashchenko ran with a blue and yellow flag and wrapped them both in it.
Mahuchikh is a native of Dnipro, a city of nearly 1 million people located just 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the war’s front lines. When the war started, she piled as much as he could into his car and left town quickly. As she left, she heard gunshots and could sometimes see grenades falling miles away.
Mahuchikh won the first Olympic gold of his career, adding to the bronze he won in Tokyo. She also won gold at last year’s world championships.
___
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
