Mahuchikh follows World Indoor title and global outdoor silver by winning first European senior crown, edging Vukovic and historic first medal for Montenegro; Victories by Weber and women’s 4x100 give Germany most golds with seven, Great Britain wins fourth straight men’s 4x100 in meet record

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

With each attempt, every meet and all the opportunities she has earned while high jumping around the world during the past six months, Yaroslava Mahuchikh has continued to communicate a message of courage, strength and resilience to the people back home in Ukraine, demonstrating poise and maturity well beyond what any 20-year-old athlete should be expected to showcase while her country remains at war.

But just like she did by winning the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Serbia in March, along with securing the silver medal at the global outdoor meet in Oregon in July, Mahuchikh has continued to provide hope for her Ukrainian people every time she has risen to the occasion on the biggest stages in the sport.

Mahuchikh did so again Sunday at the European Athletics Championships, capturing her first senior-level outdoor gold medal and the first in meet history for Ukraine, clearing 6 feet, 4.75 inches (1.95m) on her first attempt to edge Montenegro’s Marija Vukovic and her third-attempt clearance at the same height at Olympic Stadium in Munich, Germany.

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“I would like to dedicate this medal to the Ukrainian people. This is my first gold medal at major (outdoor) championships. I left my home in March and it was difficult since then,” said Mahuchikh, who became the second gold medalist of the meet for Ukraine, following Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk in Friday’s triple jump final.

“Since then, I want to do something for my country. Our people wait for good news. It is a pleasure for them to see my gold medal. I want to show that we are strong people, a strong nation and that we can fight until the end. I love this medal. I want to thank the Ukrainian team, all the people who supported me. This is a fantastic atmosphere here in Munich. I guess now I will start to collect more gold medals. I hope to go back home in September. I left my country in March and I miss my home and my friends and my father.”

Mahuchikh has now won European high jump titles at every level, capturing the U18 championship in 2018 in Hungary, the U20 crown in 2019 in Sweden and the U23 gold last year in Estonia. She also achieved the European Indoor title last year in Poland.

Vukovic, 30, also made history by achieving the first medal in any event for Montenegro in meet history.

“This is very, very important result for me, my first major senior medal. I have been waiting for this for so long, so you cannot imagine how emotional I feel right now,” Vukovic said. “Even today, I know that I should have performed better because I am able to jump higher. But the medal is the most important thing for me now. My family and friends were supporting me from home, so I cannot wait when I come back, hug them and I will celebrate with all of them.”

Angelina Topic, 17, earned bronze for Serbia by clearing 6-4 (1.93m). Topic also earned bronze by achieving the same height Aug. 6 at the World U20 Championships in Colombia.

Julian Weber gave host Germany a reason to celebrate again Sunday, along with the women’s 4x100-meter relay.

Weber, 27, followed the men’s javelin victory achieved in 2018 by fellow German Thomas Rohler in Berlin by producing a fourth-round throw of 287-7 (87.66m), adding the senior-level European title to his U20 gold medal captured in 2013 in Italy.

“I still cannot seize it, I cannot believe it. I am on cloud nine. I have been longing for this medal for a very long time,” Weber said. “I will celebrate here in Munich, in this stadium. Munich audience, you are really amazing. I did not do any warm-up throws because I had so much pain in my back. My physios still did a great job. So, with this pain, I guess, there was less pressure for me. I guess this was a key factor.”

Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic secured silver with a second-round mark of 286-4 (87.28m) and Finland’s Lassi Etelatalo achieved a fifth-round effort of 283-7 (86.44m) to grab bronze.

Germany also earned another victory on the track, with the women’s 4x100 relay quartet of Alexandra Burghardt, Lisa Mayer, Gina Luckenkemper, Rebekka Haase clocking 42.34 to secure the first victory for the country since 2012. Poland ran a national-record 42.61 for silver and Italy took bronze in 42.84.

The relay title also helped Germany produce the most golds at the meet with seven, in addition to 16 overall medals.

Great Britain captured the most overall medals with 20, including six golds, punctuated by a fourth straight men’s 4x100 relay crown in a championship-record 37.67, with Jeremiah Azu, Zharnel Hughes, Jona Efoloko and former LSU standout Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake eclipsing the 1990 standard of 37.79 established by France.

“I feel that we all deserve it, we knew we had the quartet to do it. The championship record was definitely a bonus, but we put a lot of work into this,” Mitchell-Blake said. “We also had two different people running the heats, and it is nice to finish the championships with a gold medal.”

Mariano Garcia captured the first men’s 800 gold medal for Spain in meet history, in addition to earning the first podium finish for his country since 1994, by edging reigning World 1,500-meter champion Jake Wightman of Great Britain by a 1:44.85 to 1:44.91 margin.

“I was feeling strong, and I knew I could fight for a place on that podium, so I decided to go for it, and, in the end, I come away with a gold medal at these European Championships,” Garcia said. “I am very pleased with it. I was expecting a much slower race, but it wasn’t so, I just went with it, and decided to control it from the start. When I decided to take the lead, I knew I had to give it my all.”

Mark English earned bronze for Ireland in 1:45.19, his first podium appearance since taking third in 2014.

Following a third-place finish in 2018 in the men’s 10,000, along with another bronze medal in the 5,000 final Tuesday, Yemaneberhan Crippa captured the first 10,000 title for Italy since 1990 by clocking 27:46.13, edging Norway’s Zerei Kbrom Mezngi in 27:46.94.

It was also the first medal in the event for Norway since 1990, with France’s Yann Schrub taking third in 27:47.13.

Marc Scott of Great Britain, representing Nike Bowerman Track Club, finished 12th in 28:07.72.

Pia Skrzyszowska of Poland, a member of the national-record 4x100 lineup, became the first female athlete from her country to win the 100-meter hurdles crown since 1982 by clocking 12.53.

Luca Kozak matched the Hungarian national record to secure silver in 12.69 and Ditaji Kambundji of Switzerland grabbed bronze in 12.74. Cindy Sember of Great Britain, who trains in Arkansas, earned eighth in 13.16.