Who is Yuliya Levchenko, the Ukrainian high jumper and Instagram star?

Ukraine posses a wealth of incredible women's high jumpers, with the nation claiming gold and bronze in the events at the Olympics in Paris. One athlete who didn't make the final is Yuliya Levchenko.  Let's take a look at her story.

Levchenko is a sensation on and off the track, with nearly half a million followers on Instagram. This makes her one of the most well-known high jumpers in world athletics.

On her Instagram, she is seen traveling all over Europe, from Tenerife, Turkey, Italy, and France, but don't let her social media fool you from what she is really trying to achieve.

According to the World Athletics website, this will be Levchenko's third Olympic Games, having debuted at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and having an eighth-place finish at the Olympics in Tokyo.

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Her desire to win gold at the Paris Games has undoubtedly risen due to war in her home country of Ukraine, which doesn't seem to stop anytime soon.

According to The Sun, just after the Russians invaded, Levchenko said: "I just want to live in my country, Ukraine! Without Russian soldiers and Putin."

The Ukrainian high jumper has the pedigree to be one of the Ukrainian athletes to win a medal at the Olympics this year, having two top-ten finishes in the World Championships and Indoor World Championships in August 2023 and March 2024.

The Ukrainian high jumper was destined to be great in the sport, winning a gold medal in the 2014 Youth Olympics. While it takes most female high jumpers 15 years to jump 2.0 meters, it took Levchenko only seven, according to the Richard Mille website.

Voted Best Female Ukrainian Athlete and European Athletics Rising Star of the Year in 2017, she rose to the top in 2019, with a world ranking of second and winning the European Athletics U23 and Team Championships.

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As well as gold at the Youth Olympics and European Championship events, Levchenko has won silver in the World Championships, European Indoor Championships, and Military World Games. She also has two bronze medals.

The Ukrainian told the Richard Mille website: "I immediately gravitated towards the high jump, most likely because of my height and build (currently 60 kg and 1.79 m). I was already tall for my age at 13, and very slender."

"It was like a game for me: trying to put the bar higher and higher without knocking it off and starting again without ever focusing on the element of performance. It was sheer enjoyment."

Due to her following and immense ability, Levchenko became a partner to luxury watch brand Richard Mille in 2018. She also has a sponsorship with Nike.

Unfortunately for Levchenko, she was unable to reach the final of the women's high jump in Paris, but her fellow Ukrainians represented their war-torn country well, winning gold and bronze in the event. Hopefully that is of some comfort to Levchenko.

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