LEONGATHA’S Eleanor Patterson has come away from the Paris Olympics with a bronze medal after a thrilling Women's High Jump final in the early hours of Monday morning our time.
Having cleared the lead up heights with her first attempts, including equaling her season best of 1.95m, Eleanor couldn’t get over the next height at 1.98m and was out of the competition and likely out of the medals.
But immediately after she missed at her third attempt, the second of the Ukrainian jumpers, Iryna Gerashchenko also missed the same height at her third attempt presenting Eleanor Patterson with a bittersweet moment after two hours of competition.
She was out of the running for gold and silver, but coming away with something of an unexpected bronze was certainly fantastic consolation for the 2022 world champion.
The two competitors, Iryna Gerashchenko and Eleanor Patterson, couldn’t be split on a total of three misses each so there will be four women sharing the podium; one gold medal winner Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine, one silver medal winner, Nicola Olyslagers of Australia, and two bronze medal recipients.
Olyslagers and Mahuchikh both cleared 1.98m, then 2.00m, including a clutch last-gasp clearance by Nicola, and were locked in a jump off for the medals at 2.02m when the Australian went out after her third miss, being relegated to the silver as a result of missing at the earlier height.
Having secured the gold medal, Mahuchikh raised the bar to the Olympic record height at 2.04m. She holds the world record at 2.10m.
But it wasn't to be. She hit the bar heavily and there was to be no record.
It was gold and bronze for Ukraine and silver and bronze for Australia.
In the celebrations after the bronze medal win, Eleanor shared the moment in the stands with her parents Mark and Helen Patterson of Leongatha.
It's the first time in 20 years, not since Athens, that four women have shared the high jump podium at the Olympics.
Morning Show 'congratulations'
Speaking on the Channel Nine Morning Show later, with Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo, Eleanor acknowledged the moment of disappointment and then elation, after she missed her last jump but then had it confirmed that she’d taken bronze.
“I would have liked to jump higher so there was a bit of turmoil inside, thinking I could have jumped higher, then I got the bronze,” said Eleanor.
“We had to wait until it was confirmed that I’d won the bronze so there were a few tears. I can’t wait to get my hands on it now,” she said, with the medal presentation coming up tomorrow.
“The stadium was electric, and it was wonderful to feed off that energy.”
Eleanor also spoke about sharing the medal with the Ukrainian Iryna Gerashchenko.
“It will be wonderful to share the bronze with such a wonderful person inside and out,” she said.
The Aussie girls also had a special thrill on the sidelines after the high jump was over, seeing Noah Lyles’ incredible win in the blue ribband event of the Paris Olympics close up.
“We had a front row view of the 100 metres, yeah it was amazing, we were actually eating our snacks right near there at the time,” said Eleanor.
Nicola described her clearance of 2.0 metres at the Paris Olympics as one of the greatest jumps of her life, effectively tying with the eventual winner, but taking the silver on a countback.