High jump star Nicola Olyslagers has claimed Australia’s first gold medal of the world championships in Tokyo, overcoming two rain delays.
Winning on a countback over Poland’s Maria Zodzik, Olyslagers was the first to clear 2m and secure her place at the top of the podium.
At Tokyo’s National Stadium, the field events were paused twice over the course of the evening due to a torrential rain storm.
Despite this, Olyslagers said she was able to overcome the pressure by drawing on previous experiences, such as understanding what it feels like to win, as well as to lose.
“When I came here in Tokyo [for the 2021 Olympics], I left with a silver medal and I was blown away,” Olyslagers said. “And now [I’ve got] a gold.”
“I was jumping tonight, and I realised in 2017 I came dead last [at the world championships], I didn’t clear the starting height.”
“And I’ve seen year by year, just a gradual progression up but when I came last, I remember standing out there and I had so much peace, because I knew that my performance didn’t determine my identity and my value.”
“So then coming in as number one, the pressure was off because I knew if you can’t lose anything when you come last, and you can’t gain anything if you come first. So let’s go out and do it.”
“And so when the rain was pouring out there, and I was waiting for an hour between attempts, it was just a joy because the light was inside of me, and I knew that if Jesus was enough for me when I was last, he’s enough when I’m first.”
“And every time that I was jumping. It was just worship.”
Olyslagers came into the 2025 Tokyo World Championships as the world leader after jumping an Australian record 2.04m at the Diamond League Final in Zurich.
The 28-year-old had three attempts at the 2.02m in Tokyo, and so did Zodzik. However, since Zodzik had two misses at 2.00m, the gold went to Olyslagers.
Olympic champion Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh finished equal third with Serbia’s Angelina Topic at 1.97m.
Australia’s Eleanor Patterson finished fifth, having cleared 1.97m but missed the podium on a countback.