Adeshina to battle Olympic champion and World record holder, Mahuchikh for historic high jump gold
Reigning NCAA Division 1 track and field indoor champion in the high jump, Temitope Adeshina will be seeking to become the first Nigerian high jumper to be crowned World champion in World Athletics indoor championships history this weekend in Nanjing, China where this year’s championships will hold.
The Nigerian, 26, made history as the first Nigerian high jumper to be crowned champion in Collegiate history after clearing 1.94m to emerge joint winner of the event with Elena Kulichenko of Russia.
Adeshina will be seeking an extension of her collegiate feat to the world stage but she will have to face her biggest opponent yet to achieve what will be an incredible feat.
The Texas Tech University, USA, student athlete was not favoured to win the gold in Virginia last weekend and she will be looking to spring another surprise in Nanjing.
She will however have to overcome the concrete obstacle that reigning Olympic champion and World record holder at 2.10m, Yaroslava Mahuchikh represents.
The Ukrainian tops the pre-championships world list with the 2.01m she cleared last month in Slovakia. It is the only 2m jump so far this year.
If Mahuchikh looks unbeatable, the Nigerian will be seeking for either the silver or the bronze, and a win of either will still be historic as no Nigerian has made it to the podium in the event in Championships’ history.
To achieve that little piece of history, Adeshina will go head to head with Kulichenko, who she shared the NCAA indoor gold with for the second time in about 10 days.
Australian Eleanor Patterson (1.99m SB) and Angelina Topic of Serbia (1.96m SB) also rank above Adeshina this year but the Nigerian will be eager to soar highest and make history as the first Nigerian woman to hit the 2m mark. That is what she will need to be guaranteed of a medal.
