Yaroslava Mahuchikh became the absolute world champion and earned crazy prize money in Budapest (video)

On Friday, 11 September, in the Hungarian capital Budapest, the first-ever absolute World Championship in track and field with a total prize fund of 10 million dollars began. In particular, on the first day of the competition, medals and substantial prizes were awarded in the women's high jump, where eight competitors represented Ukraine: Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh, holder of the bronze from Paris-2024 Irina Gerashchenko, who gave birth to a daughter last year, and vice-world champion-2017 Yuliya Levchenko. The battle for the top prize of the event — 150 thousand dollars — unfolded between world record holder Mahuchikh and world champion from Australia Nicola Olslagers. The Ukrainian took 199 cm on her second attempt and became the absolute world champion-2026, storming the pot (already as the winner, Yaroslava tried to take 204 cm but unsuccessfully)! And the Green Continent’s representative, with a result of 195 cm, settled for silver and 75 thousand dollars. Third place was shared by another Australian, Eleanor Patterson, and Serbian Angelina Topic (191 cm), who earned 40 thousand dollars each. Gerashchenko ultimately finished fifth (191 cm), and Levchenko, after an injury, managed only the opening height (186 cm) and shared 6-th place with Maria Jodźik from Poland and Lamara Distin from Jamaica. Recall that at the absolute World Championship-2026 Ukraine was also represented by hammer thrower Mykhailo Kochan, who won bronze and 40 thousand dollars in prize money, and high jumper Oleh Doroschuk, who will start on Sunday, 13 September. Earlier, “FACTS” reported that Yaroslava Mahuchikh for the second year in a row became vice-champion of the Diamond League. Photo screenshot