PARIS -- After soaring over the two-metre bar and crashing back down to earth, Nicola Olyslagers sprung back to her feet with a smile almost as wide as her face. She then shrieked and threw her hands in the air, knowing she had just become a double Olympic medallist. She also knew that compatriot Eleanor Patterson -- who had already secured a joint bronze medal -- was joining her on an historic podium for Australia.
Olyslagers stood on the foam mat a heartbeat longer than usual, soaking in the cheers raining down from the capacity Stade de France crowd, before returning to the high jumpers' bench and picking up her trademark black notebook. She held it in her hands for a brief moment and stared up into the night sky, almost contemplating what to journal next.
Perhaps something about creating Australian history would have been appropriate. It had been 56 years since Australia had double representation on an Olympic track and field podium. Olyslagers (née McDermott), the silver medal winner three years ago in Tokyo, also joining Cathy Freeman, Sally Pearson, and Jared Tallent as Australia's only multiple Olympic track and field medalists this century.
"It was really beautiful. In my head, the perfect podium," Olsylagers told reporters moments after capturing another Olympic silver medal. "Especially Iryna and Eleanor. To have shared the bronze medal; both of them at the Olympics Games last time they got fourth and fifth, both of them narrowly missing out on these big things. But of course, you want the Australian anthem and that means I'm just going to have to work harder for Los Angeles."
Sunday's gripping women's high jump final was taken out by Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh on a countback after she and Olyslagers both failed to clear the 2.02m mark. Patterson shared the bronze with another Ukrainian, Iryna Gerashchenko, also on a countback. And the moment it was over, Olyslagers and Patterson made a bee-line for each other. They hugged, shared words, then strapped Australian flags to their backs and paraded around the stadium in delight.
"It's really not sunk in, that's for sure," said Patterson. "Especially with the disappointment of not clearing 1.98m and the self-analysis you can't help but have as an athlete. You always want more and I know I've got a lot more in me in terms of my performance and my jumps. But then to come away with the bronze, I'm so, so proud."
Australia's shot at Olympic gold in this event began to fade about four weeks out from the Games when Mahuchikh soared into domestic airspace at the Paris Diamond League. She cleared a seemingly impossible 2.10m to break Stefka Kostadinova's world record that had stood since 1987. What was more incredible? She only needed one attempt.
Olyslagers was there that evening watching in awe. But she wasn't jealous nor deterred. Instead, inspired to shine once more on the Olympic stage.
"It wasn't just Yaroslava's victory, it was women's high jump history which is all of our victory," the 27-year-old from North Gosford said while beaming with delight. "Once you see somebody do it once, it opens the door. She is an amazing competitor and friend, and to see her do that, she has given me the key to aim for. 2.10m is still the goal for me, so to see her do it inspires me even more. It doesn't discredit or discount the work I'm doing; it just shows that it's possible."
THE CASUAL OBSERVER may view Olyslagers and Pattersons' achievements in Paris as a mere formality. After all, they entered these Games as two of the top-four ranked jumpers on the planet, both boasting world titles over the past 24 months. But that would be selling the pair incredibly short. Heck, two months out from the Games Olyslagers couldn't run. She's couldn't skip. And she certainly couldn't jump. The idea of leaping over door frames -- or at least a bar set to that height -- felt as out of reach as it does to us mere mortals.
Instead, their paths to Sunday's final have been laced with injury setbacks and despair, making their joint Olympic podium that much sweeter.
For Olyslagers, the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, not 12 months after winning that silver medal in Tokyo, was the scene of her greatest heartache. She had entered the event as the favourite for gold, but was forced to withdraw after sustaining a torn calf muscle in the qualification round.
"It's devastating," said an emotional Olyslagers, after being cautioned against participating by medical professionals."Winning bronze at the Commonwealth Games four years ago allowed my professional career as a high jumper to begin, it was a competition that changed the trajectory of my life."
By the time the next major meet rolled around, the 2023 world championships in Budapest, Olyslagers hadn't just returned to full fitness, she was in career best jumping form. She had matched her personal best with a 2.02m leap in Lausanne and won nine of the 10 competitions she had contested; her only loss to Gerashchenko at the Silesia Diamond League meet.
Walking away from Budapest with only a bronze medal felt like somewhat of a disappointment for Olyslagers, but that, and all of her previous disappointment would be forgotten when she jumped for gold at the indoor athletic championships in Glasgow earlier this year. Olyslagers cleared 1.99m to become just the fifth Australian to stand atop the podium at an athletics world championship event. It was a statement of intent that she'd once again be in contention for an Olympic medal in Paris. That was until injury derailed her once more; this time her left foot, the one she uses to spring herself off the ground and up over the bar.
Olyslagers spent three weeks camped in Sollentuna in Sweden undertaking a hopeful expedited rehabilitation. She did gymnastics and took recovery swims in the local lake, all in a desperate bid to be fit for the Olympics. She cut it so fine that her only competitive action before jumping to another Olympic silver medal came at last month's Paris Diamond League, the very event where Mahuchikh, literally, raised the women's bar to 2.10m.
And then there's Patterson. After missing out on a medal in Tokyo in heartbreaking fashion, she bounced back to win an emotional gold at the 2022 world championships in Oregon. It was her breakthrough moment. Her crowning achievement. But that joy was quickly taken away after she too was struck down by injury.
While warming up for an indoor tour event in Slovakia, Patterson fractured the fifth metatarsal in her left foot, ruling her out of competition for two months.
"It's frustrating," she said at the time. "I have some good days ... some bad days ... but at the end of the day [injuries are] familiar territory and I know I will come back stronger."
On Sunday evening in Paris, both Patterson and Olyslagers came back stronger than ever. They soared high and combined for one of Australia's most memorable days in Olympic track and field.