Australia’s golden age of women’s high jump is well set to continue for another decade, after teenager Izobelle Louison-Roe won gold at the world under-20s championships in the United States.
World champion Nicola Olyslagers and Commonwealth Games winner Eleanor Patterson have been two of the world’s best since the latter broke through to win gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow as an 18-year-old, a feat she repeated this year, 12 years later.
The pair, born less than a year apart, were both on the podium at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and have been at the forefront of Australia’s resurgence in track and field. Now, they have company.
Louison-Roe, 19, improved on the silver medal she won at the world juniors in Peru two years to claim gold in Eugene, exclaiming afterwards she was “absolutely over the moon” and it was “one of the best moments of my life”. She cleared 1.92m on her first attempt to beat Hungary’s Lilianna Bátori by 2cm.
“It was incredible, I heard the crowd cheer and I looked over at my mum and then I realised, like, it actually happened, I’ve just won,” she said. “I was crying so much that I couldn’t keep it together but it was amazing.”
She came into the event as favourite, having won silver two years ago as a 17-year-old. That day she cleared 1.89m, then a personal best. But she has shown rapid improvement since then and cleared 1.95m in January, before matching it in March at the Maurie Plant Meet, one of Australian athletics’ most high-profile events.
On that rainy night in Melbourne the teenager was up against Olyslagers, and she delivered under the lights. She shared the highest clearance with her fellow New South Welshwoman, even if she ultimately finished second on a count-back. Her 1.95m could have been enough to share Olympic bronze with Patterson in 2024, underlining Louison-Roe’s potential.
She has continued to jump consistently throughout this year, clearing 1.93m at the Australian under-20 championships in April, and moving into the world top 20. Her profile is also on the rise, as an enthusiastic media performer she was used by World Athletics to promote this week’s championships in Eugene.
“I think they only take three, four, or five athletes into those press conferences, they chose her as one of them,” said Andrew Faichney, head of high performance at Australian Athletics. “They see her as one of the next generation of athletes coming through, and we certainly do too. She’s phenomenal, really, she’s done something which neither Eleanor or Nicola have done, which is win a gold medal at the world under 20 championships.”
Louison-Roe admitted she had been feeling the pressure coming into the meet. “A couple times it would get to me, like the expectation of doing better than I did last time,” the teenager said. “It definitely got me a couple times, but I just pushed it all away and just had fun.”
A product of St George Athletics Club in Sydney’s south, Louison-Roe was more active as a young gymnast than a jumper, but as she became taller she found she was a better fit for athletics. At 13, she quit gymnastics and initially focused on the sprints, but soon found jumps a source of joy.
“Sometimes I get stressed, or too much in my head, but the times when I compete the best is just when I am having fun,” she said ahead of her appearance in Eugene. “I have to keep reminding myself why I do it, it’s not the medals or anything, it’s just because I love to jump.”
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In the stadium on the final day of competition, she was cheered on by the rest of the Australian team who had finished their competition. “She loves to get the crowd involved, she was really enjoying it,” said Faichney. “Her mum’s her coach and she had her brother in the stands and then a whole heap of the Australian team, they were all there getting behind her and that helped her as well.”
Louison-Roe chose not to pursue a place in the Australian team at the Commonwealth Games, instead prioritising the world juniors and a bid for gold in what would be her final under-age opportunity.
With Australia able to send three athletes to major global meets, there is a strong likelihood that in coming years – starting at the world championships in Beijing next year – Louison-Roe be jumping alongside Olyslagers and Patterson in green and gold.
“She’ll need time to adapt to that and to learn from that, but if anyone’s well-placed to do that in the next two years to LA, and certainly by Brisbane, she certainly is,” Faichney said.
“She’s going to be able to do it with two Australians there by her side. They’ll be wanting to win – we know that Nicola and Eleanor compete hard against each other – but they both support each other as well.”
Given Ruth Beitia won gold for Spain in Rio 2016 at age 37, that prospect of the trio appearing in Brisbane – when Olyslagers and Patterson will be in their mid-30s – is not out of the question. “I don’t know whether they’ll both continue through to Brisbane or not, it’s that’d be something for them to certainly contemplate and decide, but I would say that there’d not be a reason why they couldn’t do it,” Faichney said.
“I would like to hope that we’ll have three girls in the final 12 in LA and all three going as high as they possibly can, and hopefully a few in the medals again.”