Ukrainian female athlete competes while sleeping but still wins gold medal at Paris Olympics

(Dan Tri) - While competing and taking a nap while waiting for other competitors to finish their competition, Ukrainian athlete Yaroslava Mahuchikh caused a stir when she won a gold medal in the high jump.

Yaroslava Mahuchikh is no stranger to the world of athletics as she holds the world record for high jump. Last month, at the Wanda Diamond League in Paris (France), she cleared the bar at 2.10m, breaking the old record of 2.09m of Stefka Kostadinova (Bulgaria). On the competition day yesterday (August 4), the Ukrainian athlete completed her collection of titles when she won the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics in her favorite high jump event.

Yaroslava Mahuchikh won gold medal in the women's high jump at the Paris Olympics by clearing the 2m bar on her first attempt (Photo: Getty).

The world champion cleared 2m on her first attempt and won gold while her Australian opponent Nicola Olyslagers needed more jumps to clear the bar. She and Olyslagers were the only two to continue competing after 1.98m and both cleared it with ease. Mahuchikh cleared 2m on her first attempt while Olyslagers needed her third attempt to complete the challenge. Neither of them cleared 2.02m so Mahuchikh won gold by clearing 2m in one jump.

The image of Yaroslava Mahuchikh sleeping soundly between competitions caused a stir at the Olympics (Photo: Getty).

Yaroslava Mahuchikh celebrates winning gold medal in women's high jump (Photo: Getty).

It is worth mentioning that Machuchikh's achievement did not surprise many people, but the Ukrainian athlete's performance made people curious because of her strange habit. Accordingly, while waiting for her opponent to complete the challenge, Mahuchikh still calmly took a nap on the sleeping bag she brought with her to the competition. According to the New York Times (USA), Mahuchikh's habit of sleeping between competitions began in 2018, the year she won the high jump at the Youth Olympic Games. "Serhii Stepanov, Mahuchikh's coach, said that sitting too long between jumps caused blood to rush to her student's feet. So the idea of ​​​​a sleeping bag was born. Whenever Mahuchikh entered the high jump area in a competition, she brought a backpack containing a yoga mat, a sleeping bag and a pair of socks to change. Sometimes, she wore a hoodie and took a nap as if nothing had happened," the New York Times revealed. "I feel comfortable lying down and sometimes I can watch the clouds. Sometimes I can count numbers, 1,2,3,4, or breathe in, breathe out. It's like I'm relaxing and not thinking about the fact that I'm competing in the stadium," Mahuchikh said after winning the gold medal.

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/nu-van-dong-vien-ukraine-vua-thi-vua-ngu-van-gianh-hcv-olympic-paris-20240805155702942.htm