Nicola Olyslagers
Australian high jumper (born 1996)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nicola Lauren Olyslagers (née McDermott[3]) (born 28 December 1996) is an Australian high jumper.[4] She won the silver medal at the Tokyo 2020[5][6] and Paris 2024[7] Olympics, the bronze medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships and the gold medal at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in the high jump. Olyslagers is the current high jump Oceanian record holder, 2025 Diamond League title holder and the world champion at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships.[8]
Nicola Olyslagers wins the High Jump at the Wanda Diamond League’s Weltklasse Zürich athletics competition. | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian |
| Born | 28 December 1996 North Gosford, New South Wales, Australia |
| Education | University of Sydney[1] |
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2] |
| Weight | 63 kg (139 lb)[2] |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
Event | High jump |
| Achievements and titles | |
| |
World finals |
|
| Personal best | |
Medal record | |
Career
Olyslagers competed in the women's high jump at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics.[9] Olyslagers also competed in the women's high jump at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, where she achieved a personal best jump of 1.91m and won the bronze medal.[10] On 20 June 2019, Olyslagers jumped a personal best of 1.96m at Mestský Stadion, Ostrava, Czech Republic.[11] Achieving a new personal best of 1.98 m in Sinn, Germany, on 29 August 2020,[12] she rose to second place in the all-time list of Australian women high jumpers.[13][14]
Olyslagers set Australian and Oceanian records with a personal best 2.00 m jump on 18 April 2021.[15][16] She improved her personal best to 2.01 in Stockholm on 4 July 2021 and to 2.02 at the Tokyo Olympics on 7 August 2021, winning silver.[17]
In March 2024, Olyslagers won a gold medal at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow.[8]
After her 2025 season, in which she captured both the indoor and outdoor titles, reset the Oceanian record to 2.04m, finished the year as world leader, and claimed the Diamond League crown, Olyslagers was named World Athletics Field Athlete of the Year for 2025 at the World Athletic Awards.[18][19]
International competitions
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | World Junior Championships | Eugene, United States | 16th (q) | 1.79 m |
| 2015 | Universiade | Gwangju, South Korea | 4th | 1.80 m |
| 2017 | Universiade | Taipei, Taiwan | 7th | 1.88 m |
| 2018 | Commonwealth Games | Gold Coast, Australia | 3rd | 1.91 m |
| IAAF Continental Cup | Győr, Hungary | 5th | 1.87 m | |
| 2019 | World Championships | Doha, Qatar | 15th (q) | 1.90 m |
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 2nd | 2.02 m (AR) |
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, United States | 5th | 1.96 m |
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 3rd | 1.99 m |
| 2024 | World Indoor Championships | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 1st | 1.99 m |
| Olympic Games | Paris, France | 2nd | 2.00 m | |
| 2025 | World Indoor Championships | Nanjing, China | 1st | 1.97 m |
| World Championships | Tokyo, Japan | 1st | 2.00 m | |
| 2026 | World Indoor Championships | Toruń, Poland | 2nd | 1.99 m |
| Commonwealth Games | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 2nd | 1.93 m |
Personal life
Olyslagers is of maternal Croatian ancestry, hailing from the island of Korčula.[20][21] Olyslagers had always been tall for her age, and says that she was not good at sports in her early years due to a lack of coordination. After she was introduced to athletics at school at age of seven and won the majority of the events from shotput to 200m, her parents got her involved with Little Athletics.[22]
She studied biochemistry at the University of Sydney.[23] Her sports idol is Blanka Vlašić.[21]
Olyslagers is a devout evangelical Christian, and is a member of a Pentecostal denomination that she prefers not to name.[24] She became a Christian while attending a youth camp at the age of 16, and has regularly pointed to her beliefs as a source of inspiration.[25][26][27]
Olyslagers runs Everlasting Crowns, a ministry dedicated to encouraging and teaching athletes.[28][25]
She married Rhys Olyslagers in April 2022,[29] and since then has competed as Nicola Olyslagers.[30]
