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AAP
AAP
John Salvado

High jumper Olyslagers in ominous early-season form

It says plenty about high jump queen Nicola Olyslagers and the rarefied air she now occupies that an Australian record-equalling leap in Canberra last month passed by pretty much without comment.

Sustained excellence is now par for the course for both Olyslagers and her great domestic rival Eleanor Patterson.

The Tokyo Olympics silver medallist started her 2024 campaign very much off-Broadway at the ACT Open meet and surprised even herself by soaring over 2.03m, equalling her own national mark.

The 27-year-old then had a crack at 2.05m - just 4cm shy of one of the longest-standing records in world track and field, set by legendary Bulgarian Stefka Kostadinova way back in 1987.

"It was the first time I have looked at 2.05 and it has looked small to me," Olyslagers told reporters in the lead-up to Thursday night's Maurie Plant meet in Melbourne.

"I am happy I did that but I am realising I need more competitions to know 'how do I get that 2.03 jump where I really hit it?'

"I know I can jump so much higher if I can replicate that."

Another reason why Olyslagers went under the radar in Canberra was because teen sprint star Torrie Lewis had broken the Australian 100m record only a couple of hours earlier.

But it could have been a very different story if Olyslagers had sailed over at 2.05m and kept going.

"My team was literally having the conversation, 'OK,  if you are in world record shape, are you definitely going to do it in Canberra? Don't you want to save it for when you have a crowd cheering you on?'" she said.

"And I went 'you know what, if I am in the shape to do something then I need to be true with myself that if I am able to do it, then I do it'.

"I don't wait until that special moment or that recognition because for me the joy is the jumping itself."

Patterson and Olyslagers claimed silver and bronze respectively behind Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh at last year's world championships in Budapest, with the trio again shaping as the leading gold-medal prospects at the Paris Olympics.

Olyslagers already has August 4, the day of the Olympic final, circled on her calendar and imprinted on her mind.

With Patterson not starting her 2024 campaign until the world indoor championships in Glasgow in early March, Olyslagers is unlikely to be challenged at Lakeside Stadium on Thursday.

But the same can't be said for several of Australia's other leading track and field names, with a host of big-name internationals drafted in to bolster the biggest meet on the Australian calendar.

The 2022 world champion over 1500m, Britain's Jake Wightman, is the star turn in a men's mile field also including Australian Olympic hopefuls Stewart McSweyn, Jye Edwards and teen sensation Cameron Myers.

Diamond League discus champ Matt Denny will face stiff competition from British behemoth Lawrence Okoya and New Zealander Connor Bell, who bested the Australian in Adelaide last weekend.

Rohan Browning will have his first serious hit-outs of 2024 when he doubles up over 100m and 200m.

The 100m field also includes Japan's Ryota Yamagata, who boasts a PB of 9.95.

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