Fast forward 15 years and both Eleanor Patterson and Nicola Olyslagers (nee McDermott) are now contenders for the Olympic high jump gold medal in Paris this year.

At least one of them has been on every global podium since 2021. Nicola won the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo, Eleanor won the world title in Oregon in 2022 and the silver medal at the world indoor championships in Belgrade, both reached the podium at the world championships in Budapest last August, and Nicola won her first global gold at the world indoor championships in Glasgow in March.

Australia has never had such a high-flying duo in a jumping event.

What makes their story more remarkable is that they have been competing against each other since they were 12 and 13 years old. Yet they have taken very different paths to the top, their journeys rarely intersecting as they will in Paris.

Back in the day Eleanor was the dominant one.

From Leongatha in Victoria, she was a teen prodigy, winner of every junior competition she entered.

She was the first 17-year-old girl in history to clear 1.96m (at the Australian All Schools Championships in Townsville in 2013) and she won the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medal at 18.

Nicola, from Gosford in NSW, was also promising but she grew in the shade of Eleanor’s early brilliance.

“Eleanor raised everyone in my game, in my age group, around the world, because she was outstanding in youth and junior competition – she was unbeatable,’’ Nicola recalled.

“She was great for my personal development, because, if I had a really good day, she still jumped probably 15cm higher. I learned not to compare myself with her because if I did, I would have given up the sport. I had to learn to be on my own journey. It was very helpful to learn that someone else’s excellence did not diminish me. She raised the bar and made us all perform better.”

Eleanor remembers that they were both quite shy as young girls.

“I think we would exchange pleasantries and get along quite well, when we were competing out there, but were both very quiet girls in a lot of ways growing up,’’ she said. “But through the years, we've definitely gotten to know each other quite well.”

After her Glasgow Commonwealth Games triumph, Eleanor began to struggle with the early spotlight and the pressures of elite competition. She fell out of love with her sport, failed to make the Australian team for the 2018 Commonwealth Games and dropped out entirely for more than a year. She said she had to get herself out of a “dark place’’ before she could rekindle her love for athletics.

She eventually joined coach Alex Stewart in Sydney in 2019 and began to work her way back into the light.
Meanwhile, Nicola made steadier progress. She won the bronze medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in a breakthrough performance, then worked her way through the senior international ranks, winning her first Diamond League event in Brussels in 2020.

She became the first Australian woman to clear two metres at the Olympic trials in 2021, and took that confidence into the Tokyo Olympic Games, where she cleared 2.02m to win the silver medal.

Eleanor finished fifth at those Games, just 18 months into her comeback. She had overcome her internal demons by then, and said Nicola’s rise came at the right time to inspire her to believe she too could reach the heights of her sport.

“I was still coming back into the sport and I think I jumped 1.96 like five times, and it seemed like that was my limit. And then to see her go ahead and just kind of break that boundary and jump two metres, and then to jump 2.02 and get the silver medal. I was definitely impressed by what she was able to achieve.”

Eleanor went on to win the silver medal at the world indoor titles in Belgrade in early 2022, clearing two metres for the first time, before she broke through to win the world championship in Eugene that year, equalling Nicola’s national record of 2.02m.

At the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham a month later, it was Nicola who took the title.

In early 2023, Eleanor broke a bone in her foot while competing in Europe and needed a metal plate inserted to fix the fracture, which restricted her preparation for her world title defence in Budapest.

But she put aside the troubled lead-in to snatch the silver medal in Budapest, from Nicola in bronze, after both cleared 1.99m. Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh took the title with 2.01m.

For the first time in over 50 years, two Australians stood on a global athletics podium together, and they want that experience again in Paris.

But again their paths have diverged this year. Nicola burst out of the blocks in January, clearing a national record of 2.03m in Canberra, and followed up with her first global title at the world indoor championships in Glasgow in March.

She also triumphed at the Australian championships and Olympic trials in Adelaide in April, clearing a championship record of 2.01m to confirm that her Olympic preparation was right on track.

The enigmatic Eleanor has taken time to find her form this year, but has repeatedly shown the ability to jump high when it really counts.

Throughout their shared history they have taken turns taking the lead, and both have endured setbacks, but their respect and admiration for each other has only grown.

“It certainly is a wonderful thing to have someone at the level that Nicola is to be pushing you along,’’ Eleanor said. “We have both had different highs and lows throughout the sport. And it's such a beautiful story. We're both the same age, we’ve come through from a very young age together and we have both put our heart and soul into it. I’m always very inspired by what she does, and very impressed and proud.”

Nicola is also inspired by Eleanor’s resilience.

“I love that we have two completely different approaches and journeys, and you can both be on the podium,’’ she said. “You can be friends and competitors.’’

With three medals available in Paris, there will be room for both to shine.

Nicole Jeffery