Love at first leap

The world’s best female high jumpers will have to clear two metres to medal at the Paris Olympics. Editor at Large Louise Evans meets a member of the elite club who can leap over a campervan.

Eleanor Patterson has been addicted to leaping great heights since she was a tall, skinny kid bursting with raw talent in country Victoria.

Her sporting career started at Little Athletics when she won the high jump aged eight by leaping just over a metre. She went back next week and won again. She was hooked. She’s been jumping almost ever since.

Twenty years later Sydney-based Patterson is a towering 1.82m Amazon who can jump two metres in competition and squat 200kg in the gym – about the same weight as an adult lion.

With world and Commonwealth championship medals already in her trophy cabinet, Patterson has been competing on the World Athletics circuit in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics, recording a consistent but quiet overseas preparation – jumping between 1.90m – 1.95m at five international competitions.

Watching Patterson jump is like watching a plane take off. “I’m a jumper who uses a lot of speed and power,” she said. “My ideal jump is very fast and powerful from the start. I come in with a lot of force, like a bullet, that’s me. 

“I need that build-up of momentum to create the rhythm that gives me a seamless take-off so that I can fly. That feeling of flying hooks you in. It’s addictive. It feels like freedom, a flow state, an equilibrium where everything is natural, nothing is forced, everything just flows.” 

Her high performance coach Alex Stewart, who’s based at the NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) where Patterson is a scholarship holder, describes her as a phenomena.

“Eleanor is a championship performer and those athletes are fantastic to watch,” Stewart said. “When it comes to high pressure, they can turn it on and find another level. 

“She has tremendous physical qualities, an incredible mind and an ability to take herself beyond, to put herself entirely in the moment and bring a level of performance that is not even warranted.”  

Patterson started winning major international competitions while she was still at school in Leongatha, a rural town in Victoria’s South Gippsland, 135km south-east of Melbourne. 

Her hometown hit international headlines late last year when news of an alleged mushroom murder lunch went viral. Four people were taken to hospital after consuming beef Wellington that was suspected of containing death cap mushrooms. Three of the four guests subsequently died. The alleged cook Erin Patterson has pleaded not guilty.  

“Same spelling, no relation,” Eleanor confirms. “It’s a small town and there’s a lot of Pattersons but we don’t know those Pattersons.”

As a teenager Eleanor was training in earnest, doing gym sessions before school and track sessions afterwards. “I was so dedicated,” she said. 

Success came fast. While a student at Mary MacKillop Regional College in Leongatha she won her first championship gold medal at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games with a 1.94m jump.

Fast forward to the Covid-delayed 2021 Tokyo Olympics, she finished fifth behind fellow Australian and reigning world indoor champion Nicola Olyslagers, who won silver.

What followed Tokyo was a medal rush with Patterson finishing on the podium at every championship event. She won silver at the 2022 Belgrade World Indoors with a 2.0m jump, then 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games silver with 1.92m and the big one, the 2022 Oregon World Championships gold clearing 2.02m. She was a world champion. But wait there’s more – 2023 Budapest World Championships silver with 1.99m.

Championship Performer: Eleanor Patterson

Year	Event	Venue	Result	Height
2023	World Championships	Budapest	Silver	1.99m
2022	World Championships	Oregon	Gold	2.02m
2022	Commonwealth Games	Birmingham	Silver	1.92m
2022	World Indoors	Belgrade	Silver	2.00m

The Olympic high jump competition is shaping as a tantalising contest, especially after world champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh took down one of the longest-standing world records in World Athletics, clearing a dazzling 2.10m to win the Paris Diamond League event on July 7. 

The Ukrainian flyer was challenged by Australia’s world No2 Nicola Olyaslagers, who had matched Mahuchikh at 2.01m but was unable to follow her over 2.03m. With victory secured, Mahuchikh moved the bar up to 2.07m  and then 2.10m – one centimetre higher than the world record set by Stefka Kostadinova at the 1987 World Championships – and cleared it on her first try.

Patterson’s coach predicted Paris would be a “tremendous battle”. “They are all phenomenal athletes, they all have the capacity to win, to jump very high and it’ll be down to who can execute the best on the day,” coach Stewart said before leaving Australia. “I have 1000 per cent belief Eleanor can and will be that person.     

“From a technical perspective she has fantastic elastic qualities. She has a tremendous understanding of rhythm and space and timing. Both Eleanor and Nicola are incredibly strong. I’ve been in the gym when Eleanor’s squatted 200kg. That’s a lot of weight to take on your back.

“In the air she’s acrobatic, she has great spatial awareness. She also has a very good understanding of what she needs to do and is able to focus-in on the components that allow her to jump high. Her athletic intelligence is very high. It is a tremendous trait to have.”

Whoever can jump over two metres will be in medal contention in Paris. “Everyone in Paris will have done the training and has the talent,” Patterson said. “It’s about who can bring it all together, be in the moment and let go. I know I can perform at major championships. I’m building momentum. I have the courage to put myself on the line.”

Patterson believes having the courage to “let go” will ultimately produce the perfect jump that wins  medals and breaks records. To do that she needs to defy gravity by harnessing her innate speed and power before taking off. Like a jet. Smooth, sleek, mesmerising.