Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine set a new women’s high jump world record at 2.10 meters on her first attempt at the World Athletics Diamond League event in Paris, France, on Sunday.
The previous record of 2.09 meters belonged to Stefka Kostadinova of Bulgaria, whose mark stood for an impressive 37 years after being set in Rome, Italy, in 1987.
“Coming into this competition, I had feelings that I could jump 2.07 meters and maybe 2.10 meters,” Mahuchikh said after her victory. “Finally I signed Ukraine to the history of world athletics.”
Mahuchikh claimed the women’s high jump bronze medal at the pandemic-delayed Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021.
On the same day, Faith Kipyegon of Kenya broke her own world record of the women’s 1,500-meter event after finishing the race in 3:49.04 to surpass her performance from 2023 in Italy by 0.07 seconds.
“I knew the world record was possible because I recently ran very fast in Kenya,” Kipyegon said. “I was coming here to just run my race and to see what shape I’m in to defend my title at the Olympics.”
Kipyegon, 30, has won gold in the women’s 1,500-meters twice at the Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021.
Men’s pole vault world record holder Armand Duplantis of Sweden also tried to challenge himself in Paris on Sunday. He made one attempt at 6.25 meters, but nudged the bar on the way back down. His final result was an even six meters, still good enough for him to win the title.
Djamel Sedjati of Algeria stood out in the men’s 800-meter event in 1:41.56, a world-leading result, his personal best and the third-best over the distance in history, behind only his compatriots David Rudisha (1:40.91) and Wilson Kipketer (1:41.11).