The 22-year-old is setting ne standards in the high jump. The world record holder says that when she takes off, she becomes a swallow. Mahutschich talks about the stress of the war at home – and explains what her mission is.
Yaroslava Mahutschich, you broke the 37-year-old high jump world record in July. How does it feel to topple such a monument?
I went a long way to achieve this goal. I had been thinking about it since I was a teenager and two or three years ago I honestly didn’t think it would take so long. Then I was in Paris, the bar was 2.10 meters and I said to myself: “If you do this, there will be a big celebration in Ukraine.” That helped me to relax. I felt that I was mentally and physically ready.
And then you jumped . . .
It was not an easy competition, I had already reached 1.95 metres in two attempts and it continued like that. But I broke the world record with the first jump, I ran to my coach and she almost couldn’t believe it. It was important for us because I wrote my name and that of my country in the history books of athletics. In every competition now, the starting list behind the world record will be: Mahutschich, Ukraine.
It seems to be very important to you that the name of your country is also behind the record.
Of course, it’s not just about me. And unfortunately the celebration was short-lived, because I jumped the world record on July 7th, and the day after there was an air raid on a children’s hospital in Kiev. That was traumatic for the people of Ukraine.
All the great female jumpers of the past decades have attacked Stefka Kostadinova’s record and failed. Was it some kind of insurmountable wall?
Not for me. When I was 18, I jumped a junior world record of 2.04 meters. I knew then that I was destined for great things. I believe it takes hard work and great mental strength. Every champion has his or her own teacher. In my case, it is Tatjana Stepanova, who has accompanied me from the beginning. We are very similar and form the best team in the world.
She trained you as a child.
Yes, she came to my sports school when I was eleven. She saw me and said: “I don’t know why, but I like you.” At the time I thought I would be a hurdler. Tatjana got me into high jump, but I still use hurdles in training today.
Mahutschich only discovered the high jump late
reg. The 22-year-old Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahutschich came to high jump late. First she did karate, then she wanted to be a hurdler. She became a jumper at the age of 13, two years later she won gold at the World Championships in the U-18 category and set an unofficial world record for 15-year-olds with 1.92 meters. At 18 she improved the junior world record to 2.04 meters, and last July she beat the 37-year-old record for active athletes by one centimeter to 2.10 meters. Shortly after that she became Olympic champion.
What exactly does your training look like?
I think we do everything differently than the others. I run hurdles because it’s good for rhythm, I do sprints for speed, and I also practice long jump. There are only two sessions a week in which we work on high jump technique. In addition, there are strength exercises and gymnastics for mobility over the bar.
You have to explain your switch to high jump. Tatjana Stepanova was not a jumping coach and you were not a natural talent at the beginning either; your very first attempt was a clear jump of 1.45 metres. Why did you stick with it?
I did everything back then: hurdles, long jump, triple jump, even throws. When I was 13, I started to really enjoy jumping. The atmosphere is special when you have several attempts and you can always take a break and relax in between. I first jumped with the scissors technique and the 1.45 meters was my first attempt with the Fosbury flop. After that, I started working on my technique and started to enjoy flying.
On TV it really does look like flying. But do you feel that way during the competition?
I always say that I am like a swallow. When I jump, I feel like I am actually weightless for a second or two. In my imagination, I am a bird.
What goes through your mind as you prepare to jump? Do you visualize this bird?
I make eye contact with my trainer; a look into her eyes gives me strength. And then I say to myself: “You can do it, because you’re a swallow.” As soon as I start running, I don’t think about anything anymore; then my body knows exactly what it has to do.
Sometimes you take off your shoes and change your socks during a competition. What is the point of this?
This allows my feet to relax better. And I change my socks when they are wet from the heat or rain. I don’t like it when my feet slip a little in the spikes.
So you always take several pairs of socks with you to the competition?
Yes, and after the competition I always have the problem that I have to wash and dry them in the hotel room.
The socks are one thing, but your hairstyle and make-up also seem to be very important to you. Can you explain that?
When I competed in the U-18 World Championships in Kenya in 2017, my father said my braids were my trademark. Since then, I always braid my hair before a competition. It also helps me to relax and focus. My makeup was another way to express myself. There are no rules in athletics, you can let your imagination run wild.
Your makeup has now become a political statement.
When the war broke out in 2022, I asked myself how I could show the world that I am from Ukraine and that I want to protect my country. That’s how I came up with using yellow and blue eyeliner. I’m often asked about it and it gives me strength. But honestly, it takes me an hour to get out of my room now. If I have to compete in a qualification in the morning, it’s tiring. But without this ritual, I wouldn’t be ready.
The war in your homeland is omnipresent. How do you manage to deliver top performance in such a difficult situation?
It is difficult for me right now because we are approaching the end of the season and I have only one wish: to return to my homeland. When the war started on February 24, 2022, I did not know if I would ever return. My family told me: “You have to go to the competitions and show the world that we Ukrainians always keep fighting.” I am motivated by being a symbol of this struggle for independence and freedom.
Isn’t it also a burden to always live with images of war in your head?
During competitions, I try not to read too many news. But I have parents, family, friends in Ukraine – I can’t just switch off. I get warnings about air raids on my phone and then I go home and ask if everything is OK. Two days ago there were numerous explosions in my hometown, which is terrible. But we are strong and we dream that the war will end soon.
Are you thinking positively despite everything?
I am convinced that we can rebuild our country. But we cannot take back all the lives we have lost. Many young people are fighting and dying, and that is terrible.
Just one month after the outbreak of war, you became world indoor champion. How did that go?
The journey to the World Championships in Belgrade took three days, by car through my homeland under fire. When I arrived in Belgrade, I told myself that I had to win gold. Winners have more opportunities to speak to journalists. The situation was completely new to everyone. I had only read about the war in history books, and now it was suddenly a reality, in the middle of Europe. I wanted to make that clear to people.
You live in Belgium today. Do you still visit Ukraine regularly?
In 2022, I moved to Germany with my mother and sister, where my supplier Puma supported me. The two of them then went back and I found a house in Belgium, where the whole team lives. Last October I visited my family and now I plan to go back after the end of the season. I need that, I want to be in the place where I can say: This is my home.
When you’re on the road as an athlete, you always talk about the war in your home country. Are you on a mission?
My mission is to use every opportunity to say: “We will never give up.”
After winning the Olympics, you donated part of the prize money to various organizations in Ukraine.
To an animal protection organization, to a humanitarian project and also to our army. This is important to me; like many other Ukrainians abroad, I try to give something whenever possible. A year ago it was easier because it needed mainly material, for example drones. Now everyday life has become very difficult, many are sitting at home without electricity, they cannot even cook. I have everything in my house in Belgium and I have the opportunity to help.
Why do you donate to animals?
Because there are a lot of pets in the occupied territories that have been abandoned by their owners. Unfortunately, animals cannot help themselves, so we have to do that. I have a cat from an animal shelter myself, and I support the organization that runs it so that other animals can also be helped.
Are you an exception with your mission, or is this the general attitude in Ukrainian sport?
I think every single Ukrainian athlete is aware that it is a privilege to be able to play sports. We can only do this because other people are fighting on the front lines. Sport raised $200,000 to buy gasoline for the army at an auction. We are all on a mission.
You are a young woman, so life should be easy and beautiful. Isn’t it difficult to always carry this burden?
Of course it is. I am now in the best years of my life, I should live and enjoy. There are also moments when I manage to do that. But that only lasts for a short time, and then I ask myself whether I have the right to be happy when there is war in my country and soldiers are lying in the trenches. But the saddest thing is that children do not grow up the way I did. There are constant air raid warnings, bombs could fall at any time. The children learn in air raid shelters because it is too dangerous in schools. But I hope that all of this makes us stronger.
Is that really so?
In a certain way, it is already noticeable today. The war is bringing us closer together. Because Ukraine was once part of the USSR, many people grew up speaking Russian. Now they have started to learn Ukrainian.
And where do you find the brief moments of happiness?
In books. I read a lot of novels. For me it’s like diving into other worlds.
You also do fashion shoots and have already worked as a model. What does that bring you?
People have asked me why I do sports when I could be a model. But sports have opened up a lot of opportunities for me. It’s fun to dive into the world of fashion every now and then, but that’s not my world. When I walked down the catwalk at New York Fashion Week, I didn’t feel much, it wasn’t exciting. The professional models couldn’t believe it. I said: “For me, happiness is when I fly over the bar.”