Emotional Lasitskene soars to high jump gold
Russian Mariya Lasitskene added Olympic gold to her three world titles, winning the women’s high jump at the Tokyo Games with a leap of 2.04 metres on Saturday.
Australia’s Nicola McDermott won silver with 2.02 metres and Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh claimed the bronze with 2.00.
An emotional Lasitskene knelt on the track and buried her face in her hands after winning the Russian Olympic Committee team’s first athletics gold medal of the Games.
She did not compete in Rio due to the ban on Russian athletes following the exposure of widespread doping.
McDermott, 24, produced the best performance of her life as she drew support from her team mates and coaches in the stands, clapping her hands in the air and steeling herself for one last try at 2.04 before failing to clear the bar.
