--- title: "\"I had to overcome this barrier\": Yuliya Levchenko on ligament tears, smooth entry into the season, and the viral two-hryvnia story" description: "Ukrainian high jumper Yuliya Levchenko spoke in an interview with Sport RBC.UA about recovering from a ligament tear, smoothly entering the season, and preparing for winter competitions." date: 2026-11-03T05:13:00.550Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/yuliya-levchenko-return-after-injury-new-season tags: [yulia-levchenko, high-jump, ukraine-athletics, youth-olympic-games, sports-interview] author: "Inna Kinsheva" publisher: "XAB.info" --- # "I had to overcome this barrier": Yuliya Levchenko on ligament tears, smooth entry into the season, and the viral two-hryvnia story ![Ukrainian high jumper Yuliya Levchenko poses at a sports arena during training.](https://xab.info/media/2026/11/03/yuliya-levchenko-vozvraschenie-posle-travmy-novyy-sezon/yuliya-levchenko-vozvraschenie-posle-travmy-novyy-sezon-1.webp) ## Key Points - Yuliya Levchenko returned from a training camp in Mukachevo and built a smooth entry into the training process alongside Anastasiia Kovalchuk. - The athlete considers the two-meter mark not a psychological barrier, but a matter of physical readiness; maximum heights are not jumped in training. - A ligament tear in the middle of the season (with a healing period of about six weeks) was her first experience of missing starts and, she says, made her more psychologically resilient. - The viral story about a woman who gave her two hryvnias for the metro in 2014 has still not led to a meeting; Levchenko hopes to thank her. - For the new season, she is aiming for calm preparation without injuries and a transition from winter starts to summer ones. Ukrainian high jumper Yuliya Levchenko, in an exclusive interview with Sport RBC.UA, spoke about how her off-season is going, how she is recovering from an injury sustained in the heat of the competition period, and how she is preparing for the new season. The conversation also touched upon the psychological side of sports—from her attitude toward the two-meter mark to a story that went viral on social media and, according to the athlete herself, became one of the turning points shaping her further path. ### Returning to the rhythm: training camp in Mukachevo According to Levchenko, she recently returned from a training camp in Mukachevo, where the team began working in a general group. In particular, she trained alongside Anastasiia Kovalchuk, and the athlete noted a "friendly, cool atmosphere." Levchenko decided to build a smooth entry into the work for herself: since some of her national team teammates were already at a different stage of preparation, she consciously chose not to force the load, instead "building up an appetite" for training. Such an approach, she said, helped avoid a sudden spike in workload after the break. ### Two meters is not a barrier, but readiness Answering a question about whether the two-meter mark exerts psychological pressure, Levchenko stated that she wants to jump higher, but according to competition regulations, the height is not always exactly 2.00—it can be 1.99 or 2.01. She emphasized that this is "not a psychological barrier, but rather your readiness": if an athlete is physically capable of overcoming the height and is ready to show results, there should be no obstacles. At the same time, she explained that athletes do not jump at maximum marks during training—all preparation is structured so that the best results are demonstrated specifically at competitions, while reaching peak level during the training process under full load is not only impractical but pointless. ### Injury in the middle of the season: the path to acceptance A key topic of the interview was a "household injury" sustained at an inopportune time—in the middle of the season. Levchenko admitted that this was her first experience of missing competitions right in the middle of the season. Initially, she thought the pain would go away in three days, but a doctor reported a ligament tear and a six-week healing period. The athlete described the stages of denial and anger, followed by acceptance, noting that this experience made her "more psychologically resilient." She emphasized that the recovery time "cannot be moved anywhere" and expressed joy at being able to return to competitions after the injury, having overcome the fear of jumping. ### The viral two-hryvnia story A separate block of the conversation was devoted to a story from Threads about a woman who gave Levchenko two hryvnias for the metro back in 2014. This post went viral and received a wide response. The athlete herself said that the woman has still not found her, and she hopes this will still happen so she can personally thank her and meet, although, according to her, she no longer remembers what that person looked like. Levchenko linked the surge of interest in this story to the approaching Youth Olympic Games: she recalled her journey, being late, and how "small stories strongly influence later life."/> ### Plans for the new season Speaking about plans for the next year, Levchenko expressed hope for a calm preparation regime and, above all, the absence of injuries—"every athlete's dream." She intends to enter the winter season and then transition to the summer season, relying on the good readiness she demonstrated at the beginning of the current season. According to her, the team "already knows how to do everything," and honing mastery is a continuous process with no final ceiling. ## Fact-Check & Sources - ["Надо было преодолеть этот барьер": Юлия Левченко о возвращении после травмы и новом сезоне](https://sport.rbc.ua/ukr/othersport/treba-bulo-podolati-tsey-bar-er-yuliya-levchenko-1793678583.html) - Primary source: full text of the interview. Confirms the training camp in Mukachevo, training with A. Kovalchuk, a ligament tear with a healing period of about six weeks, attitude toward the 2m mark, the viral 2 UAH story (2014), and plans for the season. - [Игорь Пономарев – о предстоящем старте Сабаха в ЛЧ: Нам тоже интересно, сможем ли преодолеть ...](https://www.azerisport.com/ru/football/20260617110132288-Igor-Ponomarev-o-predstoyashcem-starte-Sabakha-v-LCH-Nam-tozhe-interesno-smozhem-li-preodolet-etot-barer.html) - Подтверждено по источнику azerisport.com - [Джош Харт о четвертьфинале Кубка НБА: «Нам нужно наконец преодолеть этот барьер»](https://www.sports.ru/basketball/1117006916-dzhosh-xart-o-chetvertfinale-kubka-nba-nam-nuzhno-nakonecz-preodolet-e.html) - Подтверждено по источнику sports.ru ## FAQ ### Where did Yuliya Levchenko spend her off-season? She recently returned from a training camp in Mukachevo, where she worked in the general group, including alongside Anastasiia Kovalchuk. ### What injury did the athlete sustain and how long did she recover? According to her, it was a "household injury"—a ligament tear, which the doctor estimated would take about six weeks to heal. The injury occurred in the middle of the season. ### Does Levchenko consider the two-meter mark a psychological barrier? No. She calls it a matter of physical readiness rather than a psychological barrier, and notes that maximum heights are not jumped during training. ### Did the woman from the viral two-hryvnia story find her? No, according to Levchenko, that woman has not found her yet; the athlete hopes this will still happen so she can thank her personally.