World indoor high jump champion Nicola Olyslagers in Glasgow (© Dan Vernon)
After securing silver at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and then world bronze in Budapest, Nicola Olyslagers completed a global medal set when she upgraded to get gold in the women’s high jump at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24.
Given their seasons so far, it was no surprise to see Australia’s Olyslagers and Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh in competition for the crown on Friday (1).
Olyslagers started 2024 by equalling the area record of 2.03m she set in Eugene last year, while Mahuchikh improved that world lead to 2.04m four days later.
They were pretty evenly matched in the competition in Glasgow, too, as both athletes cleared each height up to 1.95m on their first attempts.
It was the 1.97m bar that made the difference. While Mahuchikh, the defending champion and outdoor world gold medallist, again soared clear on her first try at that height, Olyslagers needed two attempts and that put Mahuchikh ahead on countback.
Then the bar moved to 1.99m. They both failed once, then twice, and then it was Olyslagers’ turn to take one final attempt. She couldn’t hide her delight when she landed on the mat with the bar still stationary but when Mahuchikh knocked it off with her last try, Olyslagers looked back to business, wanting to go again.
Her next target was 2.02m but – unsuccessful with each of her three attempts – she was ultimately left satisfied with her win.
Slovenia’s Lia Apostolovski also had first-time clearances up to 1.95m – a mark that equalled her PB. But after one try at 1.97m she skipped straight to 1.99m and then retired from the competition.
She got the bronze on countback ahead of Germany’s Christina Honsel, while both Serbia’s Angelina Topic and Britain’s Morgan Lake cleared 1.92m to respectively finish fifth and sixth.
“I felt today was going to be a big challenge because I hadn't competed indoors since 2017,” said Olyslagers following just the fourth indoor competition of her career so far. “I came here today because I knew I had to get outside my comfort zone, outside of Australia.
“With that mindset, and the track being so fast, I had to fight for every jump. Then the bar went up to 1.99m and I remembered I had jumped the same height on a cold, windy night in Melbourne two weeks ago.
“The goal today wasn't to win, it was to jump high and I just happened to get the title out of it.”
While aiming for gold, Mahuchikh was happy to settle for silver – another medal to add to her two world golds, two world silvers and an Olympic bronze.
“I do not know what was missing today to jump higher, because I need to check it on the video with my coach,” she said. “I felt ready at the last two competitions, I think I did everything right. But I appreciate the silver medal a lot, every medal is now very important.”
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
| WOMEN'S HIGH JUMP MEDALLISTS | ||
| 🥇 | Nicola Olyslagers 🇦🇺 AUS | 1.99m |
| 🥈 | Yaroslava Mahuchikh 🇺🇦 UKR | 1.97m |
| 🥉 | Lia Apostolovski 🇸🇮 SLO | 1.95m =PB |
| Full results | ||
