Women’s High Jump World Record Goes Down Just Weeks Before Olympic Games

Getty Image / Mattia Ozbot

The slogan of the Olympics is  Citius – Altius – Fortius, which translates to Faster, Higher, Stronger. The high jump would fit into the “higher” category, and someone went higher than ever before.

Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh set a new world record in the high jump on Sunday in the same city that she will hope to bring home an Olympic gold for her country in a few weeks.

Here is her record-setting jump,

If you want the distance in imperial measurements, that’s a whopping 6-feet-10 1/2-inches. That is absolutely absurd!

What’s more absurd is that the record had stood for a ridiculous 37 year, which made it one of the longest-standing world records. That is, until Sunday.

It was a huge PR for Mahuchikh, whose previous best was 2.06M indoors and 2.04 outdoors. I don’t think anyone at the Diamond League meet in Paris on Sunday thought that they would see this world record go down, but that’s exactly what happened.

The record was previously held by Bulgarian Stefka Kostadinova, who set it all the way back on August 30, 1987. That was a very controversial time in Track and Field, as a lot of records stood for a long time during that era. Some would claim that was due to widespread doping at the time, but it would be unfair to accuse Kostadinova of doping, as she never tested positive or admitted wrongdoing. 

Obviously, Mahuchikh would prefer to save that performance for the Olympic Games in a few weeks. But, she will surely take the momentum. The 22-year-old won the World Championships in Budapest last year with a jump of 2.01M, which is around 6-feet-7-inches.

The Women’s High Jump Final is scheduled for August 4.  The Opening Ceremonies are July 26.