Reigning world and European high jump champion Mariya Lasitskene cleared 2.00m for the 16th time in 2018 in Minsk this evening (22) before taking a very good attempt at a prospective outright lifetime best of 2.07m.
Taking part in a special competition which was held in front of an attentive audience at the Stolitsa shopping centre in the Belarusian capital, Lasitskene won for the second year running but she only sealed the victory after clearing 2.00m.
In a high calibre competition, Ukrainians Kateryna Tabashnyk and Yuliya Levchenko both cleared 1.98m to finish second and third behind Lasitskene before bowing out at 2.00m, a height which Lasitskene cleared on her second attempt.
The strength in depth in Ukrainian high jumping was on show as reigning world and European U18 champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh excelled in her final competition in the youth ranks, improving her lifetime best to 1.96m on her first attempt to equal the world U18 best.
Mahuchikh, who cleared 1.95m to win the Youth Olympic Games title in October, retired from the competition after her record-equalling exploits.
There was home success in the men’s competition as reigning European silver medallist Maksim Nedasekau cleared 2.30m before three attempts at a national record of 2.34m.
Nedasekau won by 10 centimetres from teammate Andrei Skabeika and Ukraine’s Dmytro Demyanyuk who both cleared 2.20m. Nedasekau then cleared 2.22m and 2.24m before clearing 2.30m on his final attempt after two failures at 2.26m.