High jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh wins Ukraine's 1st individual gold of the Paris Olympics

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — It was a night for war-torn Ukraine to rejoice.

Thousands of Ukrainians watched on YouTube as high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh won gold for the country she was forced to flee, then celebrated with two teammates who also medaled at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.

Iryna Gerashchenko shared bronze in the high jump and Mykhaylo Kokhan then claimed a bronze in the hammer throw, too — doubling Ukraine's Olympic medal haul from three to six in the span of about an hour.

“Medals are very important for Ukraine because the people are having a very happy time, and they can cheer us and they can celebrate this with us and not think about the war for one day,” Kokhan said.

Mahuchikh, who left her home due to the war with Russia, earned Ukraine’s first individual gold of these Summer Games, following a victory in women’s team saber fencing on Saturday.

She is from Dnipro, a city of nearly 1 million located only about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the front lines of the war. When Russia invaded, she piled as much as she could into her car and left town quickly. On her way out, she heard gunfire and could, at times, see shells raining down miles away.

The next time she returns, it will be as an Olympic champion.

Once the medals were assured, Mahuchikh and Gerashchenko ran down the track waiving Ukrainian flags, prompting a standing ovation at the Stade de France.

Then, when the two high jumpers were given special permission to run over and embrace Kokhan, all three Ukrainian medalists posed together with their blue and yellow flags.

It wasn't all about celebrating, though. Mahuchikh also recalled the "almost 500 sportsman (who) died in this war.

“They will never compete. They will never celebrate. They will never feel this atmosphere," she said, adding that her gold medal is "really for all of them.”

Mahuchikh succeeds Tokyo gold medalist Maria Lasitskene, a Russian who — along with everyone else from her country — has been banned from track and field’s international events since the country invaded Ukraine.

Russian rockets and missiles constantly knock out Ukraine's power grid. But Gerashchenko said that the electricity was working on Sunday,

“Today we have internet, we have light and on the YouTube channel, around 160,000 people (watched) online,” she said.

Mahuchikh cleared 2.00 meters to finish ahead of Nicola Olyslagers of Australia, who also cleared 2.00 but then failed all three of her attempts at 2.02.

Eleanor Patterson of Australia and Gerashchenko shared the bronze at 1.95.

Mahuchikh considered jumping again and could have tried to break the world record of 2.10 that she set less than a month ago in another Paris stadium. But then she stopped and started celebrating.

Mahuchikh was asked why she didn't make any further attempts.

“Why not? I was Olympic champion,” she said.

Mahuchikh also gained curiosity for the way she lies down and wraps herself up in a type of sleeping bag between jumps. She said it helps her relax: “Sometimes I can watch the clouds...not think about that I’m at a stadium.”

Mahuchikh claimed the first Olympic gold of her career, adding to the bronze she won in Tokyo. She also won gold at last year’s world championships.

“It’s all medals for our country, Ukraine, for our defenders," she said. "Only thank(s) (to) them we have opportunity to be here.”

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Mykhaylo Kokhan, of Ukraine, competes in the men's hammer throw final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Mykhaylo Kokhan, of Ukraine, competes in the men's hammer throw final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Yaroslava Mahuchikh, of Ukraine, celebrates winning the gold medal in women's high jump at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Mykhaylo Kokhan, of Ukraine, reacts after his third place finish in the men's hammer throw final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Iryna Gerashchenko, left, and Yaroslava Mahuchikh, both of Ukraine, take a victory lap after Mahuchikh won the gold and Gerashchenko won the bronze medal in the women's high jump at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Gold medalist Yaroslava Mahuchikh, second from right, of Ukraine, jumps with silver medalist Nicola Olyslagers, right, of Australia, and bronze medal winners Iryna Gerashchenko, second from left, of Ukraine, and Eleanor Patterson, left, of Australia, following the women's high jump final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Gold medalist Yaroslava Mahuchikh, and bronze medalist Iryna Gerashchenko, both of Ukraine, celebrate after the the women's high jump final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Yaroslava Mahuchikh, right, of Ukraine, is congraulated by Nicola Olyslagers, of Australia, left, after winning the women's high jump final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Iryna Gerashchenko, of Ukraine, competes in the women's high jump final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Nicola Olyslagers, of Australia, reacts in the women's high jump final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Yaroslava Mahuchikh, of Ukraine, competes in the women's high jump final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Yaroslava Mahuchikh, of Ukraine, prepares to compete in the women's high jump final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Yaroslava Mahuchikh, of Ukraine, competes in the women's high jump final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Yaroslava Mahuchikh, of Ukraine, rests before competing in the women's high jump final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Yaroslava Mahuchikh, of Ukraine, competes in the women's high jump final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

LONDON (AP) — Google won a court challenge on Wednesday against a 1.49 billion euro ($1.66 billion) European Union antitrust fine imposed five years ago that targeted its online advertising business.

The EU's General Court said it was throwing out the 2019 penalty imposed by the European Commission, which is the 27-nation bloc's top antitrust enforcer.

“The General Court annuls the Commission’s decision in its entirety,” the court said in a press release.

The commission's ruling applied to a narrow portion of Google’s ad business: ads that the U.S. tech giant sold next to Google search results on third-party websites.

Regulators had accused Google of inserting exclusivity clauses in its contracts that barred these websites from running similarly placed ads sold by Google’s rivals. The commission said when it issued the penalty that Google's behavior resulted in advertisers and website owners having less choice and likely facing higher prices that would be passed on to consumers.

But the General Court said the commission “committed errors” when it assessed those clauses. The commission failed to demonstrate that Google's contracts deterred innovation, harmed consumers or helped the company hold on to and strengthen its dominant position in national online search advertising markets, it said.

The ruling can be appealed, but only on points of law, to the Court of Justice, the bloc's top court.

The commission said in a brief statement that it “will carefully study the judgment and reflect on possible next steps.”

Google said it changed its contracts in 2016 to remove the provisions in question, even before the commission imposed its decision.

“We are pleased that the court has recognised errors in the original decision and annulled the fine,” Google said in a statement. "We will review the full decision closely.”

The company's legal victory comes a week after it lost a final challenge against a separate EU antitrust case for its shopping comparison service that also involved a hefty fine.

They were among three antitrust penalties totaling about 8 billion euros that the commission punished Google with in the previous decade. The penalties marked the beginning of an era of intensifying scrutiny for Big Tech companies.

Since then, Google has faced escalating pressure on both sides of the Atlantic over its digital ad business. It’s currently battling the Justice Department in a U.S. federal court over allegations that its dominance over the technology that controls the sale of billions of internet display ads constitutes an illegal monopoly.

British competition regulators this month accused the company of abusing its dominance in the country’s digital ad market and giving preference to its own services.

EU antitrust enforcers carrying out their own investigation suggested last year that breaking up the company was the only way to satisfy competition concerns about its digital ad business.

FILE - In this April 17, 2007 file photo, exhibitors work on laptop computers in front of an illuminated sign of the Google logo at the industrial fair Hannover Messe in Hanover, Germany. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer, File)