Olyslagers breaks Australian record in High Jump

NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder Nicola Olyslagers has gone higher than any Australian woman in history, soaring over 2.03m in the Women’s High Jump at the Diamond League Final in Eugene, USA.

Olyslagers who made it a pair with an equal world lead for silver, improved on her equal Oceania record by one-centimetre when finishing in second place on countback to Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh.

“I’m feeling really thankful of the year that’s been and the personal best was always the plan this year. To do it on my final competition was a blessing, and when I cleared 2.03m, I felt like I was running faster than I ever have before in those last few steps,” Olyslagers said.

“I thought for a second, ‘are my legs going to be able to hold this?’ It felt so fast and so powerful but I was able to do it and when I did it, I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, it was what was missing all year!

Becoming the outright Oceania record holder after previously sharing the 2.02m mark with Eleanor Patterson, Olyslagers also maintained her status as the equal world leader to cap off an outstanding 2023 campaign which featured nine wins from 12 competitions.

“I want to do a personal best at the Olympic Games. The goal is always the same – I want to get that 10 out of 10 jump like I did today and be able to really feel that I’m reaching my full potential and reach my platform in the right way,” Olyslagers said.

Olyslagers finished on the podium at every one of her competitions in 2023, including the World Championships in Budapest where she returned to the global podium with bronze.

And weeks after claiming bronze for Australia at the World Athletics Championships, doctor-in-training Mackenzie Little (Angus McEntyre) proved that placing on the podium was no fluke, as the javelin star threw 61.24m for third place at the historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

While the field led by Japan’s Haruka Kitaguchi (63.78m) weren’t able to replicate the sizeable distances seen in Hungary, Little’s first attempt dictated the tone of the event as the bronzed Aussie launched her best of the six-throw series, just six-centimetres shy of the silver won by New Zealand’s Tori Peeters.

Article courtesy of Athletics Australia