Olyslagers and Patterson to lead Poland podium charge

A roll call of Australian athletics stars will be ready to rumble when the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships begin in Poland tonight, with the high-flying duo of Nicola Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson taking centre stage in a Friday night blockbuster.

The team of 11 is led by six athletes who have won a collective 20 global medals since 2022, marking the calibre of the Australian contingent who will follow in the footsteps of former champions including Steve Hooker and Sally Pearson.

Australian high jumpers and New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holders Olyslagers (coach, Matt Horsnell) and Patterson (Fayaaz Caan) have dominated the global podium in recent years, with the World Athletics Indoor Championships no exception – Olyslagers the back-to-back champion and Patterson winning silver in 2025 and 2022.

“I feel excited to give it another go tonight. I’m aiming for an indoor PB and refining my technique, but more importantly, I want to enjoy it with the right heart,” Olyslagers said.

“If I worry about defending titles, I lose my joy because I lose the reason why I’m jumping. This year it is a challenge to balance the readiness to change and shift to go higher, whilst simultaneously holding onto the things we have done to jump high in major competitions.”

With 11 major medals between them since 2022, Olyslagers is chasing an elusive three peat of World Indoor titles as the Australian record holder at 2.04m, while Patterson is a proven big-time performer with 2.02m credentials.

Awaiting the Australia duo is world record holder and Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh (UKR).

Olympic silver medallist Jessica Hull (NSWIS, Simon Hull) will attempt an ambitious double in Kujawy Pomorze, taking on both the 1500m and 3000m during the three-day championships which are often defined by tactics in the middle-distance ranks.

The five-time global medallist will meet rivals Georgia Hunter Bell (GBR), Nikki Hiltz (USA) and Birke Haylom (ETH) in the 1500m, while a white-hot Linden Hall (VIC, Ned Brophy-Williams) will join her over 3000m as the fourth ranked runner.

Adding to the middle-distance action, 800m star Peter Bol (WA, Justin Rinaldi) will gun for his maiden global medal when ranked second in the 800m with his 1:43.89 seasons best from the Perth Track Classic, while Adam Spencer (VIC, Tomasz Lewandowski) looms large in the 1500m.

Two-time World Championships medallist Kurtis Marschall (WA, Declan Carruthers) is in the form of his life after becoming the fourth Australian man in history to clear six metres, but the world number three will face world record holder Armand Duplantis (SWE) and a rising Emmanouil Karalis (GRE) in the field that features nine of the top 10 men in the world.

Marschall is ranked fifth with his seasons best of 6.00m, along with long jumper Liam Adcock (QLD, self-coached) who claimed bronze at last year’s edition of the championships in Nanjing.

“With Commonwealth Games and World Athletics Ultimate Championships this year; I didn’t want to travel to Europe again unless I was in shape to upgrade my medal from last year,” Adcock said.

“I’ve done one jump in six months and the poor execution of that tells me there’s more juice to squeeze.”

On that occasion, Adcock leapt to 8.28m to fall just two centimetres shy of the World Indoor title, now returning in 2026 in the competition featuring reigning Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou (GRE) and reigning world champion Mattia Furlani (ITA).

Seasoned veteran Michelle Jenneke (NSW, Bronwyn Thompson) is fit and firing for her return to the world stage after suffering a hamstring injury at the 2024 Olympic Games, leading the way in experience for debutants Hayley Kitching (NSWIS, Ryan Foster) and Bob Abdelrahim (VIC, Justin Rinaldi) who will both contest the 800m.

Featuring 674 athletes from 118 countries, the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships will be held in Kujawy Pomorze, Poland from March 20-22.

Australian viewers able to tune in live and free via 9Go! and 9NOW.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics