High jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh wins Ukraine's 1st individual gold of the Paris Olympics

SAINT-DENIS, France — Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who was forced to flee her country because of the war with Russia, won gold at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.

It was Ukraine’s first individual gold of these Summer Games, following a victory in women’s team saber fencing.

Mahuchikh cleared 2.00 meters to finish ahead of Nicola Olyslagers of Australia, who also cleared 2.00 but then failed at all three of her attempts at 2.02.

Eleanor Patterson of Australia and Iryna Gerashchenko, also of Ukraine, shared the bronze at 1.95.

Mahuchikh intended to jump again and try to break the world record of 2.10 that she set less than a month ago in another Paris stadium.

Mahuchikh is from Dnipro, a city of nearly 1 million located only about 60 miles from the front lines of the war.

Mahuchikh claimed the first Olympic gold of her career, adding to the bronze she got in Tokyo. She also won gold at last year’s world championships.