African women’s high jump champion Rose Yeboah will begin her Olympic journey on Friday.
Yeboah, who is Ghana’s first woman ever to qualify for the Olympic Games in women’s high jump, will compete at 8:15 am Ghana time.
She’s in Group A alongside women’s high jump record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine, who jumped higher than any woman in history, setting a world record of 2.10m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in June. This has stamped her as the outright favourite for the Olympic gold medal in this year’s Olympics.
The Ghanaian would need to clear the bar at 1.97m, the height she jumped to secure a ticket to Paris for these games, if she’s to make the final on Friday.
She can also qualify for the final without necessarily meeting the standard qualification of 1.97m if she’s among the top 12 best jumpers after the first round.
Since breaking onto the scene in 2019, the 22-year-old has won back-to-back African Games and African Athletics Seniors Championships gold medals.
In the African Games in Rabat five years ago, she cleared the bar at 1.84m to win and defended it in Accra with a jump of 1.90m.
She won her first gold at the African Seniors Athletics Championships in Mauritius with a jump of 1.79m. A year ago, while a student at the University of Cape Coast, the youngster set a new national record at the FISU Games by clearing the bar at 1.94m, earning her another gold medal and qualifying her for the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
She earlier won gold in the African University Games in Egypt.
In her last event before flying to Paris, Rose won gold at the Confederation of African Athletics Seniors Championships in Douala last month, clearing a height of 1.87m.
In her cabinet are six gold medals from four continental or global competitions.
She capped off that spectacular CV with a 1.97m in the NCAA to qualify for the Olympics, and she’s hoping to do better.
“Qualifying for the Olympics is such a great experience, and I am really happy to see myself there to compete for my country, Ghana,” she told JoySports.
“Looking at my performance at the NCAA, I feel like I will do much better since it’s going to be a competition among ourselves.
“Everyone should expect me to qualify for the finals and see myself on the podium. It will be such a great experience if at least I make it to the finals and get a medal,” she added.
Every height cleared by Rose was a record set by her and broken by herself.
Flying to Paris for the Olympics is a record, and she could be in contention for another record if she makes the final.