'My vision for sport is to see revival': The close-to-heart meaning behind single word on Aussie high jumper's spikes
PARIS: When Australian high jumper Nicola Olyslagers bounds in to hunt Olympic gold in Paris on Monday morning (AEST), she'll do so with a single word crafted on each of her shoes.
Written in small black print on the orange Puma spikes of the towering athlete from Gosford, an Olympic silver medallist, is the word "revival".
A challenging time in her life and a staunch faith in Christianity are key to the subtle message.
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"I had a poem written when I was seven or eight years old of being an Olympian and jumping over two metres. Well I had a plan for my life that I would be over in Europe with the best facilities, the best coaching, the best everything, and it was there that I would finally become an Olympian," Olyslagers (née McDermott) tells Wide World of Sports.
"I got all of these opportunities thrust onto me by the time I was 19. I had all the partnerships, all the facilities, I was set for life with where I was at.
"But I was miserable. I was like, 'What's going on? I've got all of these amazing things ahead of me, yet it's not satisfying me'."
She found herself facing two options: stay the course in Europe and hope an Olympic medal would turn her life around — she was living and training in Germany — or toss away that plan and return to Australia.
Written in small black print on the spikes of Nicola Olyslagers, pictured competing at the Paris Games, is the word "revival". Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
"It was at that time that I just cried out to God and said, 'Lord, you need to show me which way', and he just said, 'You need to go back to Australia, train with your coach and leave it all behind'," recalls Olyslagers, who returned to Australia in 2017.
"I just decided, 'I just want to be where Jesus is'. If I'm here and I feel like this is not where I'm meant to be and I'm living compromised, I'll get up and leave, so I did. I was ready to leave sport altogether ... It was then that the Lord said, 'Do sport but do it my way', and so I did."
Olyslagers' spikes also feature her name and the Australian flag.
They were on her feet when she became the outright Australian women's record holder in last year's Diamond League final, jumping 2.03 metres to put a centimetre between her and 2022 world champion Eleanor Patterson.
Olyslagers won silver at Tokyo 2020 and bronze at last year's world championships, held in Budapest.
In Glasgow in February, she claimed gold at the world indoor championships.
But the 27-year-old is not solely focused on silverware.
"My heart and my vision for sport is to see revival," Olyslagers says.
"I believe that God can change anything and in sport I've seen so many athletes that get burnt out really easily and their identity is in sport. To see a revival in sport is to see people released and free from all of that, and see God move in sports so we see miracles that we've never seen before ... That's my definition of 'revival'. It's restoring something that was broken or lifeless and bringing life into it.
Nicola Olyslagers (née McDermott) in action at Tokyo 2020. Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images
"I feel like a few years ago God revived me; revived my love for the sport, revived my passion and revived my purpose for why I do what I do.
"So when I jump every time I look at that [the word 'revival'] and think, 'All right, I'll put a bit more effort into this training session'.
"I believe that even when people see me jump dreams will be revived, and I pray for that; that when people see me I carry something that they've never seen before."
Olyslagers' Christian faith is clear to see on the pages of her "little book of gold", as she calls it, in which she scribbles words and pictures during training and competition. Bible verses are a common feature.
Her faith also pours out at the top of her approach, where she closes her eyes and speaks to God, taking deep breaths and clenching her fists.
Nicola Olyslagers pictured with the silver medal she won at Tokyo 2020. Matthias Hangst/Getty Images
"Sport is the instrument that I'm in," says Olyslagers, who attends a church of about 30 people in Gosford.
"The instrument of sport has taught me that I needed to face a lot of fears. I was afraid of heights, I was afraid of failure, afraid of disappointment.
"I've been seeing sport as a beautiful thing that's been teaching me humility, but God has been there as my strength. I think it's an amazing platform, it's an amazing community. The training will break you, but at the same time, I've seen how God has worked in my life. He's opened my eyes to see what's possible.
"That's going to be my life message, even way after sport: using what I have to be a living and walking encounter with Jesus, so when people see me they can see a bit of him inside of me ... If they can grasp that, I'll train for another 18 years."
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