A few days ago the Ukrainian athlete Yaroslava Mahuchikh broke one of the oldest world records in athletics – in women’s high jump. She jumped 210 cm at the Paris Diamond League to improve the record of Stefka Kostadinova of Bulgaria, set in 1987.
Thus, Yaroslava Mahuchikh holds the world record just a few days before the Paris 2024 Olympics, where will be the main favorite for the gold.
Here we are the All-Time Top Seven women’s high jump and can watch the video of the jumps at the end.
No 1 Yaroslava Mahuchikh (Ukraine) – 210 cm
Yaroslava Mahuchikh is the new superstar of world athletics. The 22-years-old Ukrainian athlete was the 2020 Summer Olympics bronze medalist, 2019 and 2022 World Championships silver medalist, 2023 World Championships gold medalist, 2022 World Indoor Championships gold medalist, and 2024 World Indoor Championships silver medalist.
The reigning world and European champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh broke the long-standing world high jump record in the 2024 Paris Diamond League with a record-breaking 210 cm clearance.
Stefka Kostadinova’s previous mark of 209 cm had stood since the 1987 World Athletics Championships and while many of the all-time greats have tried and failed to improve the record, the 22-year-old Yaroslava Mahuchikh succeeded with a first-time clearance at the Charlety Stadium.
No 2 Stefka Kostadinova (Bulgaria) – 209 cm
The name of Stefka Kostadinova was written with golden words in the IAAF Hall of Fame with her world record of 209 cm stood since 1987 until being broken by Yaroslava Mahuchikh in 2024. Altogether Stefka Kostadinova set seven world records – three outdoors and four indoors. She also holds the distinction of having jumped over 200 cm 197 times.
Stefka Kostadinova won the gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, setting an Olympic record of 205 cm. She also won a silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Stefka Kostadinova won the outdoor World Championships in 1987 and 1995. She won the World Indoor Championship five times between 1985 and 1997. Stefka Kostadinova also won gold in all European Championships in Athletics in which she competed. She was a European outdoor champion in Stuttgart in 1986 and a four-time European indoor champion in 1985, 1987, 1988, and 1994.
Stefka Kostadinova jumped 209 cm at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics in Rome, winning her second world title after the 1987 Indianapolis World Indoor Championships.
No 3 Kajsa Bergqvist (Sweden) – 208 cm (current world indoor record)
Kajsa Bergqvist won one bronze medal in the Olympic Games, one gold and two bronze medals in the World Championships in Athletics, and one gold and one bronze in the European Championships. Kajsa Bergqvist is also the European Champion and European Indoor Champion. Her personal outdoor record of 206 cm, set in Germany in 2003, is also a Swedish record.
Kajsa Bergqvist’s indoor personal best is 208 cm, set at the Arnstadt Hochsprung mit Musik meeting in 2006, which is also the world indoor record. Thus, she improved the world indoor record of Heike Henkel, who is number 6 in our ranking, which stayed for more than 14 years. She was only 1 cm from the current women’s high jump record.
No 4 Blanka Vlasic (Croatia) – 208 cm
Blanka Vlasic is a Croatian former track and field athlete who specialized in the high jump. She is a two-time world champion and double Olympic medalist. She is the Croatian record holder in the event and a former indoor world champion.
She won the World Junior Championships in Athletics in both 2000 and 2002. Blanka Vlasic broke the Croatia national record in 2004 and also won her first world senior medal at the World Indoor Championships that year.
She returned in 2006, taking the silver at the World Indoor Championships. The 2007 season signaled a strong run of form: she won at the 2007 World Championships, became the indoor world champion in 2008 and her winning streak came to an end with a narrow loss at the Beijing Olympics that year, where she took silver. Her awards also include the IAAF World Athlete of the Year 2010 and the European Athlete of the Year trophy (2007, 2010).
On August 31, 2009, Blanka Vlasic cleared 208 cm at the Zagreb Meeting 2009, which was just 1 cm from the world record then, but was the second-best result in the women’s high jump and the Croatian national record. The same season she became World Champion for the second time.
No 5 Lyudmila Andonova (Bulgaria) – 207 cm
Lyudmila Andonova is a retired high jumper from Bulgaria. She competed at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
Lyudmila Andonova was a silver medalist from the Universiade in Bucharest in 1981, as well as a two-time champion of the Balkan Games in 1981 and 1984. She is a seven-time champion of Bulgaria: 1981, 1982, 1984, 1992 – outdoors, 1979, 1982, 1992 – indoor.
In 1984, Lyudmila Andonova broke the World Record with a clearance of 207 cm. She jumped the record high at the Berlin Meeting and held the world record for 3 years, before being captured by another Bulgarian athlete – Stefka Kostadinova.
No 6 Heike Henkel (Germany) – 207 cm
Heike Henkel is a German former athlete competing in the high jump. She was the Olympic, World, and European champion. She won the high jump gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
She also triumphed with the high jump gold at the 1991 Tokyo World Athletics Championships and the 1991 Sevilla World Athletics Indoor Championships.
On February 8, 1992, Heike Henkel jumped her personal best and all-time world’s fifth-best result of 207cm at Karlsruhe Meting in Germany. This is still the German national record.
No 7 Anna Chicherova (Russia) – 207 cm
Anna Vladimirovna Chicherova is a Russian high jumper. She was the gold medalist at the London 2012 Olympics and the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and was originally awarded a bronze medal in the event at the 2008 Summer Olympics, which was later stripped for doping. She was also runner-up at the World Championships in 2007 and 2013, as well as the bronze medalist in 2015.
On July 22, 2011, Anna Chicherova jumped 207cm at the Cheboksary Russian Athletics Championships, winning the gold in the event.
The same season she dominated the high jump and won the gold at the Daegu IAAF World Championships, as well as the Lausanne and Brussels Meetings of the Diamond League.
Watch the Top 7 All-Time Women High Jumps video:
