Yaroslava Maguchikh won her third consecutive gold medal at the European High Jump Championship, confidently winning the final with a score of 1.97 m. After the competition, her coach Tatyana Stepanova explained the Ukrainian woman’s mistakes at a height of 2.01 m and spoke about an unusual episode during her performance.

At the 2026 European Championships, Maguchikh became the winner of the high jump competition, clearing 1.97 m on her first attempt. This result brought the Ukrainian a record third consecutive gold medal at the continental championship..

The athlete's coach Tatyana Stepanova noted that the course of the final was seriously affected by the headwind. According to her, weather conditions interfered with a number of rivals, including Briton Morgan Lake and Serbian Angelina Topic, but had a much smaller impact on Maguchi’s performance.

Stepanova emphasized that the Ukrainian made only one mistake on the way to victory: she could not clear 1.95 m on the first attempt. Already in the status of European champion, Maguchikh stormed the height of 2.01 m three times, but without success.

Explaining the reasons for the unsuccessful attempts, the coach spoke about the athlete’s technical error.

" Maguchikh stretched her steps in an arc and decided to take it by force, but she just needed to lightly stay high on her feet. She sat down, but it’s clear that she has strength. If I had done everything beautifully and easily, I would have taken 1.

95 m on the first try. And 2.01 m could also be taken,” Stepanova said in a commentary for Suspilne Sport..

The coach also highly appreciated the performance of another Ukrainian jumper Irina Gerashchenko, who took a place in the top 5. For the athlete, this start became the largest tournament after returning to the sector after the birth of a child.

The next competition for Maguchi will be the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, which starts on September 10.