Olyslagers soared high in a golden 2025

World champion and dual Olympic medallist Nicola Olyslagers was awarded the Bruce McAvaney Award for Performance of the Year as part of the 2025 Australian Athletics Awards, recognised for her spectacular 2.04m clearance and Oceania record to win the Diamond League final in August.

The award, presented annually and selected by the legendary broadcaster himself, celebrates the most outstanding single performance by an Australian track and field athlete across the year.

McAvaney surprised the New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder during a casual conversation at the World Athletics Awards last month, where the pair were honoured with the President’s Award and Female Field Athlete of the Year respectively.

“Each year we have an award for Performance of the Year and it is my honour to make that decision. Your performance at the Diamond League final is the winner in 2025,” McAvaney said to Olyslagers.

Olyslagers’ victory in Zurich, achieved with a flawless series before attempting 2.06m and part of a historic competition where four women cleared 2.00m, stands as one of the defining moments of her career, outside of also winning both the World indoor and outdoor titles this year.

“Nicola had the most impressive collective performances by an Australian athlete in a single year in recent memory but the Diamond League final was just exceptional.  It was here that she really got the better of (Ukrainian world record holder, Yaroslava) Mahuchikh at the end of the season and turned the tables,” he said.

“Mahuchikh was nearing her best again, but Nicola went from probably the second-best high jumper in the world to being the best and that’s not easy to do with the current crop of athletes at that level. Six jumps without a miss up until 2.06m – now that’s extraordinary stuff and as good as it gets.”

In response, Olyslagers thanked McAvaney, stating:

“This year just keeps going, it’s been a golden year. That competition for me was one of the best days I’ve ever had in my career. No misses all the way up to 2.06m and it was amazing to see four women jump over two metres.”

Rather than seeing the depth of the field as pressure, Olyslagers said it only fuelled her.

“I think that was an inspiration to me. That wasn’t a threat, it was really saying ‘wow, this is history’. It spurred me to keep paving the way because there’s more coming.”

Olyslagers paid special tribute friendly foe Mahuchikh, whose brilliance helped push her into a new technical chapter this year.

“Yaroslava was a big inspiration for me last year to change my technique, to get faster, because I saw the world record was possible. Without her, I wouldn’t have made those changes. 2.03m may have been my ceiling but now it’s opened.”

Olyslagers’ 2.04m jump remains the Oceanian record and world-leading mark for 2025, and underlines her reputation as one of the most consistent and influential high jumpers in the world.

The dual Olympic silver medallist was also named the Marjorie Jackson Female Able Bodied Athlete of the Year, capping a tremendous year on the world stage with Olyslagers taking gold at both the World Athletics Indoor Championships in March and World Athletics Championships in September.

Matt Horsnell (NSW/photographed above) was named Coach of the Year for his work with Olyslagers.

Nineteen-year-old NSWIS scholarship holder Delta Amidzovski (above) was named Female Junior Athlete of the Year, after breaking through to the top of the senior level by qualifying for the World Athletics Championships.

Sascha Ryner, Australian Athletics