– We do not have a relationship anymore. Before February 24, all the practitioners talked together, we talked together with Russian practitioners, but after that everything changed. None of them wrote anything. They were quiet, Mahuchikh told news. – And many practitioners say that it is not their problem, as Yulia (Levchenko) and Iryna (Herashchenko) and I shared things on social media. They do not understand that it is a Russian invasion of my country, Ukraine … And then they say “We can not do anything”. They can do anything. Why do they think so? Mahuchikh is considered the big favorite to win the height competition in the absence of the Lasitskene. Russia’s reigning world champions and Olympic champions will not be allowed to participate in the championships as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine. – And that was all Mahuchikh says that the silence has been almost total from the Russians. When the great athletics star of the Russians broke down quietly after three months of war, it only aroused indignation in the Ukrainian camp. – Marija Lasitskene only wrote a letter to Thomas Bach after three months of war. And that was all she wrote. Really bad, says Mahuchikh. The Lasitsks took a hard line against IOC President Bach and World Athletics to take away from her the opportunity to compete. At the same time, she wrote that she had compassion for what her Ukrainian competitors were going through and did not know how she could see them in the eye. A lot has changed in the last year. The celebration made headlines Barely eleven months ago, the relationship created a furore in Ukraine. Gold winner Lasitskene and bronze winner Mahuchikh were pictured together, intoxicated with joy, while celebrating their Olympic medals in Tokyo. OLYMPIC MEDALS: Australian Nicola McDermott, Russian Marija Lasitskene and Ukrainian Jaroslava Mahuchikh took the medals at the Olympics. Photo: David J. Phillip / AP Both practitioners are enlisted in the military forces in Russia and Ukraine, as is often the tradition in the former Soviet republics. The incident led to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense demanding an explanation from Mahuchikh. She even thanked the military forces in the country, which since 2014 had been in combat in Ukraine. – It is a part of my life, and it was an experience that made me stronger mentally. Part of me regrets it. It happened and I can not change it, says the Ukrainian star, who has now put the episode behind him. Gold favorite news meets her a few days before the start of the World Cup at one of the many houses that belong to one of the fraternities at the University of Oregon, where Puma has lodged for the championship. Together with Karsten Warholm, she is one of the leading stars of the brand. STAGE READY: Jaroslava Mahuchikh is waiting with Olympic champion Gianmarco Tamberi to face the press. Photo: Fredrik Tombra The Ukrainian has jumped the highest in the world this year with 2.03 meters – five centimeters taller than the next woman. She was world champion indoors in Belgrade in March, and won the World Cup dress rehearsal in Eugene in May. She then followed up with victories in the Diamond League vote in Rabat and Paris, before failing in Stockholm. Mahuchikh is currently living at the sponsor’s headquarters in Herzogenaurach, just north of Nuremberg in southern Germany. Here she has kept to the side she won the indoor World Cup in March after fleeing the war-torn Ukraine. No longer an idol Together with the coach, Tatjana Stepanova, she has prepared herself as well as possible for the world championships in Eugene. Saturday she jumps qualification. On Wednesday 20 July, she will fight for a gold medal. And that without her former idols on the starting line. But she does not care much. – I do not have an idol anymore. Now I jump and I think about how I … I know that I am an idol for many Ukrainian jumpers. And for them, I want to improve. PS! Marija Lasitskene was pictured with a ring in the colors of Ukraine during a vote in Russia just over a month ago. PS2! You can watch the high final from the WC on news 1 from 02.40 on Wednesday night.
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