Olympic high jumper spotted using bizarre relaxation method in between rounds before winning gold
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Pascal Le Segretain/Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
Olympic viewers can't get over a high jumper's bizarre relaxation method in between rounds before winning gold.
Athletes often have a routine prior to the big event to ensure they are in the best position to perform.
Typically, it's music a lot of sports stars will surround themselves with prior to the action.
Yaroslava Mahuchikh goes in for something a little different though.
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The Ukrainian world-record holder has been flying at the Olympics, claiming a gold medal at the games on Sunday evening.
And on top of that, she has become a bit of a viral sensation online for her relaxation method she uses between rounds.
Mahuchikh could be seen casually lying under a green sleeping bag between jumps.
In fact, the Olympian even appeared to be nodding off at certain points, though some on social media have suggested she may have been meditating.
One X user wrote: "Obsessed with climbing into a sleeping bag in between Olympic high jumps."
Another said: "Yaroslava Mahuchikh being so calm in sleeping bag before getting gold medal and making the highest jump is iconic."
Well, after Mahuchikh clinched gold over the weekend, she was asked by Time about her unique relaxation method.
“I feel comfortable when I lay and sometimes I can watch the clouds,” she told the outlet.
"Sometimes I can count numbers, 1,2,3,4, or breathe in, breathe out. It's like, relax, [and] not think about that I'm at [the] stadium."
As per a report by the New York Times, Mahuchikh started taking sleeping bags to competitions in 2018.
“Serhii Stepanov, who helps to coach her along with his wife, Tetiena Stepanova, suggested that sitting too long between jumps allowed the blood to pool in Mahuchikh’s legs,” the outlet reported.
And this is where the sleeping bag came into play and it has been with the athlete ever since.
Speaking about it during a press conference on Sunday, the high jumper added: "It's really difficult. But I advise all girls to have this mat and blanket because it's really comfortable to lay in different weather, because when it's raining, it's OK. It never gets hot because it's a camping blanket."
Many have supported Mahuchikh at the Paris Olympics due to a few turbulent few years for the Ukrainian.
She was forced to flee her native country when Russia invaded, so to make the Olympics two years later is hugely impressive.