On August 4, Cyprus champion Elena Kulichenko took seventh place in the high jump final. This was Cyprus's first appearance in the finals of this discipline and, therefore, the country's best result in its entire history of participation in the Olympics.
In the final, Kulichenko successively achieved heights of 1.86 meters, 1.91 meters and 1.95 meters. She then made three unsuccessful attempts at 1.98 m. As a result, she finished in seventh place, equal to the representative of Uzbekistan Safina Sadullayeva, whose height of 1.95 m was also her best result this year.
This year's gold medalist Yaroslava Maguchikh (Ukraine) cleared the height of 2 meters on her first attempt. Australian Nicola Olislagers took second place, achieving the same height on her third attempt. The bronze medal went to Ukraine's Irina Gerashchenko and Australia's Eleanor Patterson after successful jumps to a height of 1.95 m, which both athletes achieved on their first attempt. Turkish Cypriot athlete Buse Savashkan, competing for Turkey, took 10th place.
Commenting on her performance, Elena Kulichenko said that she had mixed feelings about her own result. “I was very close to the medal, but, nevertheless, I feel great. This result will make me want to win even more next time,” she said.
The Cypriot champion said that the public greeted her well. “I can say that today the final was not as intense as the qualifying stage. I tried to maintain my composure and stay focused on my goal. Despite unsuccessful attempts, I tried to do everything in my power,” added Elena Kulichenko.
On August 5, the center of attention of Cypriot Olympic fans will be Marios Georgiou, who performs in the final of the competition on the horizontal bar.
“We are not favorites. But I believe that anything can happen in the end. Our duty is to go and compete as best we can. And then, I think, we will be able to enjoy the result, no matter what,” said the athlete’s coach Panagiotis Petridis.
The text was prepared based on materials from Cyprus Mail.
On topic
You can read about other results of the Cypriots at the 2024 Olympics here.
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