Nicola Olyslagers defended her high jump world indoor title

Australian athlete Nicola Olyslagers won the high jump gold for the second year in a row at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Nanjing, China.

Nicola Olyslagers, a silver medalist at the last two Olympics in Tokyo and Paris, cleared 1.97m. She didn’t make a single foul until 1.99m, where she recorded her only three unsuccessful attempts. Another Australian, Eleanor Patterson, came in second with 1.97m. She was separated from the gold by one foul at 1.92m.

Surprisingly, the world record holder in the high jump, Yaroslava Mahuchikh, came in third. The Ukrainian recorded a modest 1.95m for her abilities. She made one unsuccessful attempt at 1.97m, then tried twice at 1.99m, but failed there too. Earlier this month in Apeldoorn, she won the European title with exactly 1.99m.

Nicola Olyslagers is the current high jump Oceanian record holder, and the world champion at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships.