What Mahuchikh's gold and other Olympic medals mean to Ukraine
PARIS: For a few, the Olympics is beyond sport. It’s an embodiment of resilience and hope. Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh’s is one such story a woman fighting a different battle to give a moment of peace to those in the frontlines. In her own words, Mahuchikh's gold in the women's high jump was “for the people of Ukraine”.
Mahuchikh doesn’t have a home. She lives a life of a vagabond shifting between countries Portugal, Poland, Germany, Belgium, Estonia, USA to train and compete. She was forced to flee her home in Dnipro, Ukraine, in 2022 when Russia invaded the country.
Shelling could be heard when she left for her coach’s house in the countryside. She could still hear those scary noises even now. She could see those faces of friends who are still fighting and those who are dead and gone.
Mahuchikh lowered her head and was trying to take a gulp, perhaps looking for words that could describe her feeling at the mixed zone on Sunday night. She was asked about friends and families fighting against Russian troops. The eyes were blinking and looked moist.
Yet, she couldn’t find words that would capture her emotions raging inside. Her life is riddled with bullets and bombs from the war in Ukraine. Yet she finds courage to soar and clear hurdle after hurdle with utmost ease. She has just won the gold at the Olympics, yet she could not stop speaking about her beloved country.
At 22, she holds a mature head on her lean shoulders, a trait imbibed through hardship and toil. Her tall frame makes for a natural high-jumper. The competition inside the mammoth Stade de France was another routine ritual. The world record-holder (2.10m) seemed cleared heights in her first attempts with minimum fuss.
She beat Australia’s Nicola Olyslagers on count-back after failing to clear 2.02m the final height. Another Ukrainian, Iryna Gerashchenko, finished joint third along with Eleanor Patterson of Australia. Mahuchikh has been anointed the undisputed queen as she won the country's first individual gold. The two Ukrainians, with their flag for company, did a victory lap. The vociferous crowd acknowledged their feat with loud applause.
Noah Lyles, the latest showman of world athletics, won 100m gold, a medal he had been pursuing with heart and soul in a photo-finish only an Olympics could dream of. Yet, the story of Mahuchikh was the most profound.
Just a day before, the sabre team led by legendary woman fencer, Olga Kharlan, won the country's first gold of the Games. There too the narrative revolved around war and catharsis. "I have friends and family fighting in the war and they are dying but they are very strong and this medal is for them because I can be here because they are in the frontline,” she said.
The gold meant a world to her as much to the people of Ukraine. She gets messages of love from people in Ukraine and has turned into a symbol of hope, one who can give a moment of solace in troubled times. This will make them forget their fatigue and celebrate for a while.
“Ukraine will win, of course, and I hope it will be very soon. And it is only for our people. We have very strong people. And of course we have got a lot of support from the world. Ukraine has a very brave military. Ukraine is the strongest nation in the world,” she said. The superlatives only reinforce her love for the country she longs to go back to.
She likes to snug into the sleeping mat while competing. She uses it to lie down during waits that can last between 15 minutes to half an hour in her competition. For Mahuchikh, the medal was very important because she wanted to show the people that they can fight in the stadium and not just in the frontline.
Another athlete won them a third medal Mykhaylo Kokhan a bronze in the men's hammer. He was even more succinct: “People back home are waiting for these medals.” He is in the Ukrainian military and fortunately he has been given permission to compete. “I am fortunate because I think I am more useful here than there,” he said. In the first year he was disappointed and didn’t know what to do and “it was tough... then I pursued sport and 2022 was a bad year for me as there was no result.”
What worked for him this year was that Ukraine and their national federation allowed him to train outside the country. “I trained in Turkey and Estonia in peace,” he said. He trained in Antalya (Turkey) because it was cheaper. As of now, he would want to compete in a few more events before going back and serving in the military trading his hammer for grenades and guns.
The guns might be blazing and the bombs may be dropping in the frontlines Dnipro even as Ukraine's athletes temper their celebrations in Paris (so far, they have won seven medals, including two gold). But deep inside, they know that these medals will make the millions back home forget about their life momentarily. And that’s what makes them more than just sporting icons.
