The Aussie jumper on her purpose-driven approach
In the days before her successful two-meter clearance in the Paris 2024 final, Olyslagers was singing. This was an extra task that gave her confidence – in addition to writing a lot in her “little book of gold,” as she refers to it.
“It’s like journaling is here, jumping is here, singing is here being like a competitor, it’s all in different directions,” she said with a chuckle.
“But one thing I’ve really managed to do well is if I just look up and I just say, “all right God what do you want me to focus on?’ It’s like an umbrella, I just go directly up and he covers everything.”
The jumper got so emotional after the exciting Olympic final against Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine that she couldn’t even remember what she was singing.
She has continued to consistently jump higher than the rest of her competitors this season, going over two meters five times, including the time we caught up with her in Stockholm.
Then, she cleared 2.01m to defeat the world record holder Mahuchick, her first of four Diamond League victories this season that also included the trophy in Zurich. But this time when the jumping show stopped, Olyslaggers kept singing.
“I’m no longer a slave to fear… I am the child of God…” the 28-year-old closed her eyes and belted out the tune to our microphone, the hymn she kept singing before her jumps. “I’m no longer a slave to fear…I am a child of God.”