Olyslagers wins high jump gold for Australia

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Tokyo: Nicola Olyslagers’ prayers, and she makes a lot of them, were finally answered with the gold medal that has eluded her.

Having twice won Olympic silver and been a bronze medallist at the last world championships, the Australian high jumper has finally claimed gold in Tokyo at the world championships, clearing 2m.

The heavens opened with heavy rain causing the high jump to be suspended multiple times, though the track runners kept racing on through puddles. The interruptions and the rain did not distract the champion Australian or throw out her rhythm.

Australia’s Nicola Olyslagers after ruling the world.

It made jumping harder and probably meant she was unlikely to go higher - she set a new Australian record this year - but she had safeguarded a medal place by then.

A devout Christian who runs her own ministry she raises her arms in the air at the top of her run up calling for the crowd to clap and for God to do his thing for her as she mouths a prayer. She did not miss a height until the bar was raised to 2.02m. She was twice very close to clearing at 2.02m but both times shaved the bar with her calves. She still took the gold.

Olyslagers won silver medals at each of the last two Olympics, she just won the Diamond League and set a new national record, she won bronze at the last world championships in Budapest and gold at the last two world indoors, including in China earlier this year. She is just never not on the podium.

But for outdoor events this is her first gold and to do it she not only had to beat fellow Australian Eleanor Patterson, a former world champion who finished outside the medals in 5th with a best clearance of 1.97m, she also had to beat the world record holder and world and Olympic gold medallist, Yaroslava Mahuchikh.

She did.

Mahuchikh shared bronze with Serbia’s Angelina Topic while Poland’s Maria Zodik won silver.

Topic had been huddled under a small umbrella sitting on the track with Eleanor Patterson comforting her as she anxiously waited for Mahuchikh to take her final jumps. If Mahuchikh cleared one more height Topic would be knocked out of the medals. She didn’t and the pair shared the bronze.

Australia’s men’s relay team meanwhile had a disastrous bungle in the 4x100m relay final.

Australia was back a little in the field but missed the last change when Rohan Browning set off too early and ran out of the box before Caleb Law could hand the baton. Australia looked to be running fifth or sixth at the time of the last change – it was difficult to be certain with the stagger.

Ky Robinson stuns in 5000m but misses medals

In the strongest 5000m field he has ever raced, replete with World and Olympic champions, record holders, Diamond League winners, Ky Robinson looked around and thought ‘Yeah I can beat you guys’.

Robinson came close. The Australian, who has been competing for Stanford University in the US finished fourth in 12:59.61. It was faster than any Australian has run the distance at a world championships, faster even than Craig Mottram did when he won bronze.

“Instantly over the line, there’s just sheer joy, sheer happiness. And a minute later the ‘what if’ starts kicking in, and it’s like ‘Man, I’m one spot off a medal like what if I found a little bit more?’ but, I mean, that’s hindsight,” Robinson said.

“I feel like, in the race, I was giving my all. I was just hoping that I could hang on for as long as possible. And I don’t know how, but I managed to be there with about 400 metres to go. And then I’m like, well, we got to kick now. We got to see what’s left in the tank. You got to finish on empty.

Isaac Kimeli of Team Belgium leads the field followed by competitors including Australia’s Ky Robinson (far left)

“And 200 to go, 150 to go. I was like, ‘see how fast I can sprint’. Unfortunately, three people can sprint a little bit faster than me over that final bit, but I walk away from these championships basically as happy as I could.

“I came into this race thinking, ‘hey, I can win. I can. I can stick with those guys’. I knew that if I won, it wouldn’t be an upset. Obviously, I didn’t. But you know, when the pace is that quick and I’m able to go in there and kick with those guys, I’m definitely happy with it.”

American Cole Hocker the gold medallist from Paris, won the world gold in 12.58.30 from Belgian Isaac Kimeli 12:58.78 silver and Jimmy Gressier of France who won the 10000m gold only five nights ago took bronze in 12:59.39.

“I don’t know how to put into words, really, but I’ve gone out there, I’ve run 13 minutes in a 5k and that’s my second-fastest time ever. I probably closed as quick as I would over a slower race.

“And you know the calibre of athletes in front of me, like Cole Hocker, the guy who won the 1500 metres at the Olympics last year, Kimeli won the Diamond League Final and Jimmy just won the 10k a couple nights ago, and to be finishing behind those three is amazing.”

Rivalling Mottram’s performance inspired him to think he can go one better and now take Mottram’s 5000m record.

“To be able to go out there and do something similar to what he’s done. It’s definitely something to be proud of, and someone I look up to.

“And when you look at some of the names, I managed to finish in front of I’ve got to be proud of that because a lot of those guys have medalled before at a world championships and Olympics, and I managed to get over a couple of them.

More to come