Reigning world and European U18 high jump champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh from Ukraine continued her remarkable ascent at the Skakani Hustopece high jump meeting on Saturday (26) evening.
Mahuchikh, who only turned 17 in September, began her indoor campaign with an outright lifetime best of 1.96m in Minsk on 22 December before jumping her way into the record books in Hustopece, Czech Republic with a third time clearance at 1.99m to break the European indoor U20 record and tie Vashti Cunningham’s world indoor U20 record.
Mahuchikh still has two seasons left in the junior ranks and is eligible to compete in both the Boras 2019 European Athletics U20 Championships this July and at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Nairobi in 2020.
It was in Nairobi where Mahuchikh came to prominence, winning the world U18 title in 2017 with a 1.92m clearance at the age of 15. She also won the European U18 title in Gyor with 1.94m in July before concluding her youth career with gold at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires where she cleared 1.95m.
Mahuchikh had to settle for second in Hustopece behind her compatriot Kateryna Tabashnyk who cleared 1.99m on her first attempt before three tries at 2.01m.
In a high quality competition, Morgan Lake was third in 1.97m to match the British indoor record held by Katarina Johnson-Thompson.