Maguchikh: I’m happy that I defended the title, but I set myself up for a higher result

Ukrainian athlete Yaroslav Maguchy commented victory in the high jump at the European Championships 2023 indoors in Istanbul.

“I am very happy that I have defended my title and I have my second gold with the Euro indoors. I tuned in to a higher result, so there were no special emotions at 1.98 m even after I saw that I was the first. I wanted to jump higher, but not today. But I hope that in the summer the results will be higher.”

“I will talk with the coach about unsuccessful jumps at 2.03. But, to be honest, it was necessary to start a little more calmly, as at all heights before. Or it was necessary to skip some height – for example, 1.96. But nothing, I’m very glad that there is a gold medal and it covers everything. ”

“A year has passed, but the situation has not changed. I don’t know what will happen next. Of course, I want the war to end as soon as possible. Russians are terrorists. Recently, they again launched a rocket at the civilian population in Zaporozhye. It’s horrible. I returned home in the winter for two weeks, this allowed me to somehow recover, because home is home, but I understand that if you want to show results, you need to train abroad, but when you train there, you monitor the news and think when it will all be over when everyone can go home and rebuild the country.”

In Istanbul, Maguchy won with a score of 1.98 m. Yaroslava stormed 2.03, but could not improve her best result of the season in the world. Another Ukrainian Ekaterina Tabashnik won bronze in the high jump.

For Ukraine, this is the first gold at the European Championship 2023. Earlier, Ukrainian Roman Kokoshko won a bronze medal in shot put in Istanbul.