The sporting happiness contrasts sharply with the sorrow that has afflicted the athlete for the past two years. When the conflict started, Yaroslava packed some of her belongings into a car and, together with her coach, Tatyana Stepanova, hurriedly left the country, leaving her family behind. It took three days of travel through Hungary to reach Belgrade, enduring the sound of shells and gunfire and managing the terrible fear that had already taken hold of her mind.

Since then, without returning to Ukraine, she has been training and living in countries such as Portugal, Poland, Germany, Belgium, and Estonia, among others. She is an athlete without a home, but not without a nation. "I represent Ukraine, and every medal is important. I want to show people that we will never give up and that we will fight until the end. I compete for my people," she emphatically stated at the end of the Parisian event. "Finally, I have put my country in the history of athletics with this gold medal."

Winning the Olympic title at the Stade de France was a personal motivation for Mahuchikh, not only from a sporting point of view but also because she wanted to bring a moment of joy to her compatriots living in a war-torn country. "The medal is truly valuable, but what really matters is that the Russians have killed many people, including nearly 500 athletes who have already died in this conflict and will never be able to compete, celebrate, or feel this atmosphere of victory," the athlete concluded in her statements.

Despite the external pressure before the Olympic Games, Mahuchikh maintained her focus on the event and managed to enjoy the atmosphere on the track. "I wanted to win the gold; thank God my childhood coach told me to jump all the heights on the first attempts," she explained. This success was not just a testament to talent but also a tribute to the fallen and a symbol of hope for all of Ukraine. Mahuchikh understood this, equipped with her characteristic blue and yellow eyeliner, the colors of her country.

The celebration of the triumph reached an even more special moment after her compatriot Iryna Gerashchenko won bronze in the same final. Mahuchikh approached her, wrapped in the Ukrainian flag, and the two embraced warmly before jumping for joy on the landing mat.

The champion capped the explosion of happiness by ringing the bell located in one corner of the stadium. A few minutes later, fellow Ukrainian Myhaylo Kohkan joined them, having just secured third place in the men's hammer throw. The achievements of this impromptu trio received praise from President Volodymyr Zelensky. "We are very proud," declared the leader. "Thank you for this result. Ukrainians know how to be strong and how to win."

Despite the tough personal circumstances Mahuchikh has endured in recent years, fleeing the Russian bombing of the city of Dnipro in 2022, her record has continued to grow. Since then, the jumper has won an Olympic gold, two World Championships, four European Championships, and a couple of silver medals in other world championships. In the last one, held in Glasgow last July, she also set a new world record with a jump of 2.10 metres.