The last time Yaroslava Mahuchikh tasted defeat in the women’s high jump was at the 2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, where she surrendered her title to Australia’s Nicola Olyslagers. However, a repeat upset seems unlikely at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 25, as the Ukrainian world record-holder appears poised to reaffirm her status as the world’s best when competition begins.

The Olympic champion stands out as the only athlete in the field to have cleared 2.00m or higher this season. She enters the competition with a season’s best of 2.01m, achieved in her second competition of the year at the Banskobystricka latka in Slovakia.

She is fresh from her impressive performance at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, where she required just one jump to advance to the final. The 23-year-old then extended her reign by securing her third consecutive European indoor title and fifth senior continental crown with a 1.99m clearance.

Ironically, 1.99m was the winning height at the World Indoors in Glasgow, where Mahuchikh could only clear 1.97m, falling short of successfully defending her title. As she sets her sights on a higher mark to complete the double by adding the world indoor crown to her outdoor gold, her biggest challenge may come from defending champion Olyslagers.

The Australian will make her season debut at the World Indoor Championships, and all eyes will be on her to see if she can replicate her Glasgow heroics. With both athletes bringing impressive credentials to the competition, their showdown promises to be one of the event’s most anticipated clashes.

Adding further depth to the medal hunt is Olyslagers' teammate Eleanor Patterson, the 2022 world champion, who arrives in Nanjing with a season’s best of 1.99m. The five-time Australian champion, who secured silver at the 2022 World Indoors, will be eager to return to the top of the podium.

Serbia’s Angelina Topic, the world U20 champion who won silver behind the Ukrainian in Apeldoorn with a clearance of 1.95m, is coming of age and will want to claim her first global medal at senior level. 

Joint NCAA indoor champions for 2025, Elena Kulichenko of Cyprus and Nigeria’s Temitope Adeshina, will bring their rivalry to the global stage. Both athletes, making their World Indoors debuts, will be aiming to translate their collegiate success into a podium finish against a stacked field. The pair cleared 1.94m respectively to tie for gold.

USA’s Vashti Cunningham, the 2016 world indoor champion and a finalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, will aim to prove she remains a force to be reckoned with.

Germany’s Imke Onnen, who placed sixth at the European Indoors, will also be in the mix, hoping to improve on her continental performance and contend for a medal. Rounding out the lineup are USA’s Charity Hufnagel, Ukrainian Kateryna Tabashnyk and Italy’s Idea Pieroni.

Yemi Galadima for World Athletics

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Win probability: 1 Yaroslava Mahuchikh (UKR) 75.8%, 2 Nicola Olyslagers (AUS) 16.6%, 3 Eleanor Patterson (AUS) 4.7%
(This win probability is powered entirely by data and driven by AI technology. More information)

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