Yaroslava Mahuchikh used to be not just fierce rivals with Russia’s Mariya Lasitskene, but also friends in the tight-knit world of elite women’s high jumping.
But that all changed, according to the Ukrainian, when Russia invaded her country in a ongoing conflict that shows no sign of letting up.
Mahuchikh offered no solace for the absent Lasitskene at the World Athletics championships in Eugene, Oregon, saying there was no place for Russian “killers”.
The Ukrainian came to wider global prominence when she won gold at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in March.
To get there, the 20-year-old fled her eastern Ukrainian home city of Dnipro by car, overcoming what she said was “total panic” and her very own front line.
“Three days by car, the longest three days for me,” Mahuchikh told reporters in Eugene on Wednesday.
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