Yaroslava
Mahuchikh

Still a couple of years before her 25th birthday, Yaroslava Mahuchikh has effectively completed high jumping. Just look at the Ukrainian's headline achievements for proof – gold medallist at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, 2023 World Athletics Championships winner and 2022 World Indoor Athletics Championships gold medallist, multi-time European champion both indoors and outdoors, three-time Diamond League champ and the current high-jump world-record holder. What a list for a jumper whose career is still in its early days.

So how did Yaroslava become an all-time high jumping great so young? Raised in the city of Dnipro, she's always been involved in sport. Initially it was karate, following in the footsteps of her older sister, but a few classes was all she needed to know that martial arts weren't for her. So, fatefully, her sister took Yaroslava along to an athletics club instead. There, she bloomed on the track and long-jump pit and then, after the age of 13, in high jump, where her talent was immediately obvious.