Nicola Olyslagers is writing history. Quite literally.
After every attempt, the Australian high jumper records her reflections in a journal – rating herself out of 10 for each of her cues, penning motivational quotes and noting her feelings.
Already this year her entries tell the story of world indoor gold, a Wanda Diamond League title win and another Oceanian record. Next will be the tale of Tokyo – the city in which she secured her first global medal four years ago. Flicking back through the pages of 2025, she will see a series of new chapters as she took a different approach in an attempt to peak at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25. The strategy seems to be working.
“I still have to keep it exciting; I still need to keep it fresh and new,” explained the 28-year-old after retaining her world indoor title in Nanjing in March. “As soon as it becomes routine and normal to wear an Australian kit, it’s that passion – that’s what I rely on to keep jumping high.”
Nicola Olyslagers writes in her diary at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing (© World Athletics 
Sona Maleter)
Instead of opening her season in Canberra as had become tradition, Olyslagers made the World Indoor Championships her first competition of the year.
“We decided, let’s train really hard and then when I come into the World Championships, I might not have that technique refined, but I’ll have passion,” said Olyslagers, who has become renowned for that passion and her energy, determination and faith.
“I woke up this morning – I have a time of devotion, and it said: ‘you are the light of the world, and you have been set apart to shine’. I looked at that and I said, you have to do things that are visible. The things that I do in training, the things I do in secret, I have to be okay with it being out and visible because that’s where you shine.
“So, whether it’s dancing, whether it’s writing things down, whether it’s shouting and getting excited – I had to stay authentic to that. I think it gave me boldness to jump with passion, because I thought: ‘every time I am jumping, I have that opportunity to give my everything and to shine.’ Today I did it and it was so fun. I can’t wait for the rest of the season now.”
Nicola Olyslagers (© World Athletics, by Christel Saneh Getty Images)
Her anticipation was justified. First, she travelled back to Australia – where she is based on the Central Coast of New South Wales with her coach, Matt Horsnell – and she cleared 2.01m in Perth to win the Australian title. Her campaign then included Diamond League competitions in Xiamen, Shaoxing/Keqiao, Stockholm, Paris, Silesia and Lausanne, before the final in Zurich.
“I was inspired by Nina Kennedy (Olympic and world pole vault champion). When she would go back home to Australia during the Diamond League season, I thought: ‘there’s no way’ – I always would stay in Europe,” she said in Zurich.
“But this year, I realised I needed to make some changes and because it was a late competition, mindset wise it can be very hard to hang on to the end. In doing that (going back to Australia mid-season), and training hard, by the time I came back here, I feel like I’m at the beginning of my season – I feel fresh and excited, and I have extra energy to give.”
She used that energy to clear a world-leading 2.04m and claim her first Diamond League crown in Zurich last month – adding a centimetre to her own Oceanian record and winning a thrilling clash against world record-holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh, Morgan Lake and Yuliia Levchenko, who all also cleared two metres or more.
“We’re trying to get her to have more velocity, to be able to transfer force more efficiently and quicker,” said Horsnell – who has coached Olyslagers for 17 years – when explaining some of the changes they have made. “So, we did a lot of new things and, if anything, she’s fired up more now than I think she’s ever been in her career to know that she can be better. It’s really refreshing for me to have that after all this time, to know that she’s not getting sick of it.
“There are no airs and graces, and Nic has always been the same from when I’ve had her as a young kid. She would be the same with any person that meets her. She’s just a great person and that’s what I love. I hope as a coach, that’s what I’ve passed on to the athletes (in their training group) – to aspire to be like that.”
Nicola Olyslagers during the Diamond League Final in Zurich (© Chiara Montesano / Diamond League AG)
Since claiming an Olympic silver medal on her debut in Tokyo in 2021, Olyslagers has become a two-time world indoor champion and a world bronze medallist, and she added another Olympic silver medal to her CV in Paris last year.
While now inspiring others with her achievements, Olyslagers still sees her peers as role models.
“I think it’s important – you have to remain a student of the sport. As soon as I as I don’t keep learning or I still don’t keep enjoying it, it’s over, you know?” she said.
“My physiotherapist printed out a photo of Yaroslava running and put it there, so every day I train he is like: ‘look at how she runs – this is what we are working towards.’ She changed her run up last year and it takes a lot of courage to change something in an Olympic year, but she has courage and she’s inspiring. And then Eleanor (Australia’s 2022 world champion Eleanor Patterson) – she has always been with me. I’ve been jumping with her for over a decade now, and she’s still doing new things.
“It reminds me, with the next high jumpers coming through, the importance that when you’re a leader, you get to set the culture. It’s important that what I’m doing here isn’t just going to finish. The legacy will move on with the culture of sport, that you can champion each other.
“High jump’s one of those things where it’s really not about you versus another competitor, it’s you versus the bar, and you get to have friends to do it with you the whole way.”
She’ll be reunited with those friends in Tokyo, where a maiden outdoor world title is up for grabs.
“Tokyo has a big place in my heart and that’s why I started it so late, this season, because I didn’t want to turn up mentally flat for Tokyo,” she said.
“I started in 2017 (when she made her World Championships debut) and I no heighted and came dead last. Every championship since then, I’ve gotten a little bit better. I love progressions and I love seeing that – the development, even as me as an athlete versus two years ago, and I think we’ve got so much more to give.
“So, Tokyo will be really special, regardless of the performance. It will be something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
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