Nicola McDermott jumps to new heights in Ostrava

High jumper Nicola McDermott finished third at the Ostrava Golden Spike Meet overnight with a Tokyo Olympic Qualifying height of 1.96m.

The NSW Institute of Sport athlete set a personal best at the event in the Czech Republic, adding two centimetres to her previous highest effort.

The jump marks a breakthrough for the 22 year old. With McDermott continuing her amazing trend of improving every year since 2010 where she jumped 1.73m, this performance catapults McDermott into world contention; the gold medal was won at the 2016 Rio Olympics with a jump of 1.97m.

The performance in Ostrava now moves McDermott to being equal third on the Australian all-time rankings list and equal sixth on the 2019 World Rankings.

The NSWIS Scholarship Holder is expected to set up camp in Belgium for the next few weeks before her next competition.