Two-Time Olympic Medalist Is Not Shy about Her Love for Jesus

Hope Media Europe’s new series features Australia’s high-jumper Nicola Olyslagers.

December 9, 2024 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Marcos Paseggi, Adventist Review

A two-time Olympic medalist who publicly witnesses about her love for Jesus is one of the sport stars featured in a video series produced by Hope Media Europe, in partnership with other Seventh-day Adventist Church organizations. In one of the episodes of the new series, Australian high-jumper Nicola Olyslagers (née McDermott) talks about her life, her training, and her faith.

“Courage is important in high jump, and it’s important in life,” Nicola says. “So, it’s more than a sport or a jump for me. It really is something like an instrument shaping me to become more courageous and bolder in every area of my life.”

‘My Greatest Victory’ Series

Nicola’s episode is one of the My Greatest Victory documentary series, which includes episodes featuring people who have made a difference in the world of sports while openly acknowledging they are Christians and sharing what Jesus has done in their personal lives and careers. Together with My Greatest Decision and My Greatest Venture, the new series is part of My Greatest Purpose, the latest cross-media production of Germany-based Hope Media Europe, in partnership with the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Trans-European Division (TED), Inter-European Division (EUD), and others.

On November 16, attendees at the 2024 Global Adventist Internet Network (GAiN) Europe Conference in Budva, Montenegro, saw the premiere of some of the episodes of the series, which is still in post-production. GAiN participants watched the story and testimony of Aguska Mnich, a six-time freestyle football world champion. They also saw the episode featuring Nicola and her husband, Rhys, an episode produced in partnership with Adventist Media South Pacific.

A First-Class Sports Star

Nicola found that she had an uncanny ability for high jumping early in life, but it took 14 years of rigorous training for her to reach a level where she could make a difference in the sport. Finally, on April 18, 2021, Nicola (then competing as Nicola McDermott) set Australian and Oceanian records with a personal best two-meter jump. She improved her personal best to 2.01 meters in Stockholm, Sweden, on July 4, and to 2.02 meters at the Tokyo Olympics on August 7, winning silver.

In March 2024, Nicola won a gold medal at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, and a silver medal at the Paris Olympics in August.

Not Shy about Her Faith

Nicola, who says “she has nothing to hide,” is very open about her life and her Christian faith. She became known for her trademark green notebook, where she scribbles down her thoughts, feelings, and ideas during or around competitions. In times of training between competitions, Nicola includes drawings and Bible verses, especially when she feels she needs encouragement.

She shared how, in 2024, the Bible verse of the year for her has been Isaiah 40:31: “ ‘But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint,’ ” she recited, explaining, “I realize that when I’m feeling weak, and I’m feeling tired, and I’m feeling weary, that’s a great opportunity for God to renew my strength.”

Nicola explained that she feels God is always present in everything she does. “There’s a moment before I jump where I am raising my hands, and I’m clapping … there’s not a single part of me who wants to do that for myself,” she said. “But the reason why I do that is … there’s a sense that God is pleased when I am doing something that is not about me; it’s about Him. And when I invite every person to clap, I am [saying], ‘Lord, this sound being released from the stadium is worship unto You right now.’”

That fortitude, based on her relationship with God, has helped Nicola through difficult moments, when things don’t go as planned. The strength of her spiritual life has been a source of contentment, no matter what. “Often we make plans, but the Lord directs our steps,” she said. “I know that I can bring that as well to God and go, ‘I didn’t withhold anything.’ ”

Multiyear Media Projects across the World

My Greatest Purpose is the latest initiative of cross-media projects coordinated by Hope Media Europe, with the support of the TED and the EUD. Since 2017, the media ministry’s annual or biannual projects have enlisted Adventist filmmakers, authors, and other creatives to articulate various topics that appeal to all audiences, even in a post-Christian secular environment.

The 2017 Rest production was followed by This Is My Mission (2017-2018), Fathers 2018-2019), Uncertainty (2019-2021), and 700 Years of Happiness (2021-2022).

Overall, these initiatives have resulted in about 900 minutes of documentaries with participation from people in more than 44 countries and translation to almost 20 languages. They also include three narrative films, approximately 65 minutes of clips, and short stories for social media with participants from 30 countries, along with several books with dozens of contributors from around the world.

The 2023-2024 project, My Greatest Purpose, seeks to feature people who found ways of answering to the question, “What matters most in your life?” series producer Adrian Dure says. “This is not just about what you achieve, but the lives you touch and the change you inspire.”

For Nicola, that purpose is well beyond the scope of her life as an Olympic high jumper. “High jump isn’t the goal,” she emphasized. “High jump is just the thing that is molding me to become who I was always meant to be. I don’t want to be remembered by the heights that I jumped but by the way I’ve loved.”