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SAINT-DENIS, France — The best high jumper in Ukraine, and maybe the world, hasn't spent much time at home the last few years. Home for Yaroslava Mahuchikh is Dnipro, a city of nearly 1 million located about 100 kilometers from the front lines of the war with Russia that shows no signs of ending. On Saturday, Mahuchikh begins her quest for an Olympic gold medal that, to her, feels like nothing, — and everything — given the situation back in her country. Mahuchikh, the reigning world champion and newly minted world-record holder, says the Olympics are important to her because they show Ukraine is still strong and still fighting. She is one of 142 athletes at the Olympics for Ukraine and might very well be the country's best chance at a gold medal.
