Olyslagers, Carli produce mighty performances in Finland

New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship athlete Nicola Olyslagers has built on her high jump victory in the Paris Diamond League by soaring to the top of the world rankings with another dominant performance at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Finland.

Olyslagers, the Tokyo Olympic silver medallist, cleared the impressive height of 2.01m which, besides only being one centimetre under her personal best, it also equaled the 2023 world lead set by her great Ukrainian rival Yaroslva Mahuchikh.

With August’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest fast approaching, Olyslagers was hopeful her momentum would propel her to even greater heights.

“I’m hoping – with this momentum – I’ve got 2.03m in me,” she said. “It feels scary when you look at it but I’m learning to trust that what I have inside me is enough to get over it.”

Fellow NSWIS athlete Sarah Carli obliterated her personal best with a scorching time of 54.66 seconds to finish second in the 400m hurdles, a performance which bettered the world championships qualification mark.

The time also moved Carli up on the national all-time list from fourth to third, meaning she is now only behind 1988 Seoul Olympic gold medallist, Debbie Flintoff-King, and dual world champion Jana Pittman.

NSWIS scholarship holder Rohan Browning (10.18) finished fourth in the men’s 100m final won by American Cravont Charleston in a time of 9.95.