Australian high jumper Nicola Olyslagers ends world titles with a 'saturated notebook', and a gold medal

TOKYO: Australian high jumper Nicola Olyslagers finished her world championship campaign with "a very saturated notebook" — one full of "watercolour paintings" — and a gold medal hanging around her neck.

Scribbling in her beloved notebook, clapping her hands above her head and crying out to the heavens, the 28-year-old, who is a devout Christian, put together a series of jumps that secured gold in a major career breakthrough in rain-drenched conditions on Sunday night.

In the final session of the world titles, she captured Australia's first and only gold medal of the championships and took the team's medal tally to four.

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The three other Australians who medalled were pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall, 1500m star Jessica Hull and javelin thrower Mackenzie Little, all of whom won bronze.

Olyslagers arrived in Japan as a two-time world indoor championship gold medallist.

Now, after a final at Japan National Stadium suspended twice because of torrential rain, she is a world outdoor championship gold medallist.

She's also a two-time Olympic silver medallist, a world outdoor championship bronze medallist, a Diamond League champion, and the Australian record holder.

This season alone, Olyslagers won gold at the world indoor championships in China, was crowned Diamond League champion in Zurich, and claimed world championship gold in Tokyo.

The towering star from Gosford is piecing together one mighty high jumping CV.

Olyslagers and Poland's Maria Żodzik both topped out at 2.00 metres on Sunday night, meaning they had to be split on countback.

And while Olyslagers had strung together three first-attempt clearances at 1.93m, 1.97m and 2.00m, Żodzik had recorded one unsuccessful jump at 1.88m and two at 2.00m.

They both had a crack at 2.02 metres but tallied three unsuccessful attempts each.

Bronze was shared between Yaroslava Mahuchikh, Ukraine's world record holder and reigning Olympic champion, and Serbia's Angelina Topić, who both topped out at 1.97m and could not be split on countback.

Australia's Eleanor Patterson and Ukraine's Yuliya Levchenko also cleared 1.97m but compared unfavourably on countback, finishing equal fifth.

As always, Olyslagers spent the immediate few minutes after each of her jumps scribbling in her notebook, which come the end of the rain-soaked final was a little ... under the weather.

Many of the musings she jots down are about her Christian faith.

"It wasn't a holiday — it was more of a battleground," Olyslagers said of the rain-interrupted final.

"But to come back with a very saturated notebook and a gold medal, it's wonderful.

"I've just got one [notebook], so we're going to have to go through all the watercolour paintings that probably got destroyed," she added with a laugh.

The heavy rain that disrupted the women's high jump final and the men's discus final, which ran concurrently, proved a major annoyance to many of the athletes, including Australian discus giant Matt Denny.

Olyslagers, however, was in her spiritual element.

"The work is done before you arrive at the championships, and so to be in the best shape of my life, to see a stadium completely full that I dreamed of years and years ago, I was loving it," Olyslagers said.

"Of course, the raindrops started [coming in] sideways underneath our towels.

"But again, like, I was just spending time with Jesus out there, and I was like, 'I could be here for hours. The stadium can shut down. I'm in my happy place right now'."

Reflecting on the phenomenal season she put together, Olyslagers said she had "an unforgettable year".