Nicola Olyslagers successfully defended her high jump title, clearing 1.97m to win on countback ahead of her Australian teammate Eleanor Patterson on the final morning of competition at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 25 on Sunday.
Olyslagers had a perfect scorecard up to her eventual winning height and that made the difference. Patterson needed two attempts at 1.92m, meaning she secured the silver when both she and her compatriot failed their third and final attempts at 1.99m, an official World Athletics report said.
Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh had been hoping to regain a world indoor crown she won in 2022, after getting silver behind Olyslagers in 2024 – her most recent defeat – but she completed the world indoor medal set in Nanjing.
Explaining later how she had experienced an issue with her ankle, she managed a best of 1.95m this time to claim bronze on countback ahead of Serbia’s Angelina Topic.
Olyslagers now has five global medals to her name – her two world indoor golds accompanying two Olympic silvers from Tokyo and Paris, and a World Championships bronze from Budapest.
The contest in Nanjing was the 28-year-old’s first competition since the Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels in September, where she finished runner-up to Mahuchikh.
World record-holder Mahuchikh, who cleared 2.10m last year, started the competition as world leader thanks to her 2.01m clearance at the Banska Bystrica in February, where Patterson finished second with 1.99m.
But Olyslagers and her coach, Matt Horsnell, were confident with their decision to open her year in Nanjing.
Starting with a first-time clearance of 1.89m, she then cleared 1.92m and 1.95m, also on her first attempts.
Four athletes – Olyslagers, Patterson, Mahuchikh and Topic – remained in the competition at that stage. Like Olyslagers, Patterson and Mahuchikh managed the height on the first try, while Topic needed two attempts.
Then the bar moved to 1.97m. While Olyslagers and Patterson managed it on their first attempts, Mahuchikh and Topic both knocked off the bar and decided to skip straight to 1.99m.
But the gamble didn’t pay off and the medallits were decided when all four athletes were unable to clear 1.99m – Olyslagers and Patterson with three attempts and Mahuchikh and Topic with two, following their earlier single try at 1.97m.
“This is the first time I’ve come from a gold medal position to try and defend something outside of Australia,” said Olyslagers. “I knew that if I wanted to jump as high as I wanted, to be as competitive as I wanted, I needed to do things outside of my normal comfort zone. I needed to do something new, like start a world championships as my first competition of the season.
“I was really inspired by Yaroslava’s world record attempts last year, and how she changed her run-up. So, I was jumping with a new run-up today. I want to jump as high as Yaroslava – if I want to be competitive, I need to be trying and changing things up.”
Patterson, the 2022 world champion and Olympic bronze medallist, is now a two-time world indoor silver medallist following her runner-up finish in Belgrade in 2022.
“I can’t be mad about the fact that I come away with a silver. I came here for the gold medal, but I am glad about the result,” she said. “A part of me is frustrated that I didn’t jump higher, but at the same time I’m always proud (at the result). It’s absolutely an honour to jump against these girls – we kind of always change the orders of the medals, but I’m glad I ended with silver.”
Mahuchikh was also gracious in defeat.
“I think we should respect every gold because as an athlete, I know how much it takes,” she said. “They are doing amazing out there. Coming from the European Indoor Championships, I had some injury. During today’s jumps, I felt 1.95m was not good, but I was sure that 1.97m would be great. So I started running but I felt that my ankle is not good, unfortunately.
“I didn’t feel any pressure, I just enjoyed the atmosphere of the track and the competition. I’ll be looking forward to the outdoor season. Next month I will be coming back to China for the Diamond League, and hopefully I will be better then.”
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