After Silver in Paris, Nicola Olyslagers Focuses on Online Ministry

In an interview with Steff and Micah from Brisbane’s 96.5, Olympic high jumper Nicola Olyslagers has spoken out about her faith in Jesus, and how it kept her grounded in the lead-up to the Paris Games.

Nicola is a two-time Olympic silver medalist, have won her medals at Tokyo in 2020 and Paris in 2024.

Only two months before Paris, though, she suffered an injury while competing in Europe – a time that was both challenging, and a chance to dig deeper into her faith.

Nicola, who was a speaker at CMAA’s CONNECT conference in 2022, said she wouldn’t have got through it without her trust in God.

“I wasn’t able to walk without pain or run without pain,” she told Steff and Micah on the 52Q podcast. “It was a moment of… where is my faith in the midst of the storm? Because I hadn’t really dealt with injury before.”

Learning to Depend on God

“I learned how to really be so dependent on God for literally every movement that I did. I feel like in that time I totally would have given up if I didn’t have faith and I would have let my hopes drop.

“Because my hope wasn’t based in my circumstance, it was based on the immovable power of Jesus and knowing that he can do immeasurably more than all I can ask, going into the Olympics I was like: ‘This is just my opportunity to worship’.”

Encouraging and Discipling Other Athletes

In partnership with fellow Australian athlete, Naa Anang, Nicola has started an online ministry called Everlasting Crowns which aims to encourage fellow athletes in their faith.

Naa said they began the ministry after the disappointment of missing out on the Rio Olympics.

“I think it both forced us to take a look at our faith and think, why are we really doing this?” Naa told Steff and Micah. “If it’s for our glory, we’re going to have seasons of disappointment that will just be so discouraging but if it’s for Jesus and for him, then even if there is a moment of disappointment, it’s very quickly covered by love and grace and comfort.

“So, we just took a look inward and a look outward as well and thought, how can we contribute to the place that we’re already placed in?”

Follow Nicola and Naa to find out more at Everlasting Crowns on Instagram.