1 week Ago By Luke Pentony
Two-time Olympic silver medallist Nicola Olyslagers threw caution to the wind when she attempted to break her national high jump record at the Australian Athletics Championships in Perth. Olyslagers captured the gold medal when she successfully cleared 2.01 metres via her first attempt on Sunday afternoon.
Eleanor Patterson finished runner-up after failing to clear 2.01m. She finished ahead of Eleanor Patterson (1.
97m) in a repeat of the one-two finish at last month's World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing. Instead of looking to equal her Australian record of 2.03m, Olyslagers raised the bar even higher.
Two-time Olympic silver medallist Nicola Olyslagers reveals how she has avoided a dip in motivation, as she targets winning the high jump at this year's World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. She had three attempts at 2.05m but was unsuccessful with each.
Olyslagers was not discouraged, however, as she was proud of the fact she pushed the envelope by attempting a height beyond her national mark. "I'm very happy with that," Olyslagers said. "Today, I wanted to attempt 2.
05m. I said me and 2.05m have a bit of unfinished business.
"So today was the first time in Australia in this competition that I tried out my new run-up to get a bit more speed. "If I really want to get the very best of myself, I need to be bold. "I need to practise what I preach.
So today I'm like, 'I'm not going 2.03, I'm not going 2.04, today is 2.
05'." ABC Sport and Deakin University have partnered to produce the first ABC Elite Athletes in Australian Women’s Sport Survey. Olyslagers added: "I think if I had one more attempt at 2.
05, there might have been something there." The 28-year-old passed at each height until the bar was raised to 1.88m in the final.
She kept a clean sheet before her three misses at 2.05m. Olyslagers arrived in Perth for the national titles buoyed by her triumph in Nanjing.
She won gold ahead of Patterson on countback after both cleared 1.97m. They finished in front of Ukraine's Olympic champion, Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who exited the final at 1.
95m to collect bronze. Olyslagers will compete in the Chinese leg of the Diamond League circuit at the Xiamen (April 26) and Shanghai/Keqiao (May 3) meets. Speaking to ABC Sport last week, Olyslagers said September's World Athletics Championships in Tokyo were her main focus this year.
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