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sports Diahuebs 21 Juli 2022

For Ukrainian high jumper, world silver feels like gold

(AP) — The second-place finish ence between first and second. niece are safe in Germany. Her dad
at world championships was be- and grandfather remain in Dnipro, There is no timeline for when she
side the point for Ukraine's best Still, this was a night to celebrate for where she said they can sometimes might get back to her home country
high jumper, Yaroslava Mahu- Ukraine, and for Mahuchikh, who hear artillery firing. to show off the silver medal.
chikh. said she felt the warmth from the
stands, where the yellow-and-blue
"For me, it's gold," she said Tuesday Ukraine flags dotted a few seats and
night, as she looked down at her fans cheered for her before every
newly won prize, one nobody would jump.
have been right to expect four months
ago after she took a three-day car trip The silver medal goes alongside the
to flee her hometown and get away gold she won at the world indoor
from the bombing. championships in March. That came
shortly after she escaped her home-
Mahuchikh left shortly after her town of Dnipro, which had come un-
country came under siege by the der attack by Russia and, she said, is
Russian military. The war grinds on. under siege today.
Though thousands of civilians and
soldiers are dying, Mahuchikh felt it She is one of 22 Ukrainian athletes in
was her duty to keep doing what she Eugene this week for the champion-
does best, if for no other reason than ships, all of whom have been training
to give people back home something far from home — some in Portugal,
to be happy about. And, she said, to others in Spain, still others in Poland
show Ukraine is strong. and Mahuchikh most recently in
California after stops in Serbia, Ger-
"We will fight for our independence many and Turkey.
and for our territory," she said. "And
of course, finally, we will win." Mahuchikh's medal gives Ukraine
two at the halfway point of worlds.
She came into the biggest high jump
contest of the year as a favorite, in World Athletics president Sebastian
part because the three-time defend- Coe was on hand. His federation was
ing champion, Maria Lasitskene, is one of the first to banish Russians
from Russia and not allowed to com- from these major events, a decision
pete in major events due to the war. made, he said, because there was no
fairness in allowing in athletes from
The Ukrainian finished behind the an aggressor nation while those from
surprising Eleanor Patterson of Aus- the country under attack were living
tralia, who had one fewer miss than such fragile existences.
Mahuchikh at 2.02 meters (6 feet, 7
1/2 inches), which made the differ- Mahuchikh said her mom, sister and

Djokovic and Serena, on US Open entry list - but might not play

Novak Djokovic and Serena Wil- WTA and ATP rankings. Williams is turning to the U.S. Open, where she tion said: "The U.S. Open does not
liams were on the official U.S. on there by virtue of a special rank- has won six of her 23 Grand Slam have a vaccination mandate in place
Open entry lists released Wednes- ing granted to her because she missed singles trophies, Williams replied: for players, but it will respect the
day, but that doesn't mean they'll so much time due to injury; her first "There's definitely lots of motivation U.S. government's position regard-
necessarily play in the tourna- match in a year came last month at to get better and to play at home." ing travel into the country for unvac-
ment — and in Djokovic's case, he Wimbledon, where she lost in the cinated non-U.S. citizens."
can't, as of now, because he isn't first round to Harmony Tan. She missed the hard-court tourna-
vaccinated against COVID-19. ment in New York last year after Djokovic was able to play in the
Asked after that defeat whether she hurting her leg at Wimbledon. But French Open, where he lost in the
The singles entry lists are a formality, would play again, the 40-year-old Williams made it to at least the semi- quarterfinals to eventual champion
and they include all players who are Williams said she didn't know. When finals in each of her 11 most recent Rafael Nadal, and at Wimbledon,
eligible based purely on this week's she was asked specifically about re- appearances at the U.S. Open. which he won for his 21st Grand
Slam title.
Djokovic, a 35-year-old from Serbia,
missed the Australian Open in Janu- Only Nadal, with 22 major champi-
ary after being deported from that onships, has more among men in the
country over his vaccine status and history of tennis.
has said since that he will not get CO-
VID-19 shots just to be able to par- After his triumph at Wimbledon,
ticipate in tournaments. where he beat Nick Kyrgios in the
final, Djokovic said that he "would
The United States does not allow love" to enter the U.S. Open, but
unvaccinated noncitizens to enter added: "I'm not planning to get vac-
the country, which is why Djokovic cinated."
needed to sit out big events in Indian
Wells, California, and Miami earlier Djokovic has won three champion-
this season, and can't compete at the ships at Flushing Meadows and has
Cincinnati Masters next month or been the runner-up a half-dozen
the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. times, including a year ago. His loss
29. in the 2021 final to Daniil Medvedev
prevented Djokovic from becoming
In its news release announcing the the first man since Rod Laver in 1969
entry lists, the U.S. Tennis Associa- to win a calendar-year Grand Slam.