The high jump rivalry heating up ahead of the 2026 Commonwealth Games
Eleanor Patterson sneaked away from school and wasn’t sure anyone even noticed she was missing when she arrived in Glasgow 12 years ago and left as a Commonwealth Games gold medalist.
He was an extremely shy young man who worked part-time at a bakery in Leongatha, at the foot of the Strzelecki Mountain Range, and practiced his high jump on a cushioned oval of grass.
He surprised everyone, especially himself, when he won the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. He’s a different athlete and a different person; Returning to Glasgow in 2026.
In 2014, I panicked at the thought of having to talk to anyone. She now has the confidence and self-awareness of a world champion and Olympic bronze medalist and the worldliness of a woman living in northern Italy who (with her Italian ex-athlete boyfriend Marco) travels across Europe to compete.
“It feels like a full circle moment in many ways and it feels like a lifetime ago, like I was here in Glasgow for the 2014 Games,” Patterson said.
“I feel like I’ve been through so many stages in my career. I’ve left the sport, I’ve come back, I’ve turned my life upside down so many times and yes, it’s very exciting to have a full circle moment and come back to Glasgow a very different athlete.”
Remembering walking into Glasgow 12 years ago now feels foggy and otherworldly.
“It was a blur, I’m not going to lie because I was still in year 12. So, you know, it wasn’t easy to disappear for a month in the middle of year 12,” he said.
“I mean, 18-year-old Eleanor was very timid and very shy, and she wasn’t really ready to come out of her shell yet. Even years later, when I was talking to people… they said, ‘You didn’t talk, but you were nice, you were very nice.’ I just didn’t really talk. I was very quiet.”
“Even when I was at school I hardly ever said boo and then I disappeared from school and went to the Commonwealth Games, competed, missed the win and then came back. I was very, very shy.
“I have always been confident in my talent and frankly performing in front of thousands of people is a strange career choice and job. [when you are shy]and then such a moment of pressure in many ways. So it’s crazy to think back on it yeah, I had just come out of little Leongatha and I was still in 12th grade, I was still very reserved and shy [and won gold].
“I’m very proud of how much progress I’ve made in many ways, of being the person I am today and being able to continue down that path, and I’m speaking up a little bit more. That’s for sure.”
The player, who won gold and silver medals at the world championships as well as Olympic bronze medals, left the sport in disappointment and traveled the world with it, now understands better how extraordinary what he did in Glasgow last time was.
“It wasn’t until the last few years that I was able to look back and appreciate [what I achieved] in a different light. I’m really proud of who I am and what I’ve been able to achieve.
“I used to train a lot on grass ovals and then go down to Melbourne once a week for maybe an hour and a half. It was a very, very different set-up that I had and so yeah, it was quite an incredible achievement.
“It was a baptism by fire, it was such a huge experience for me, it was like so outside of my comfort zone and everything I’d ever done before. I had a ball. It was also such a funny, full circle moment.”
Fayaaz “Fuzz” Caan, who is now Patterson’s coach, was coaching another athlete that day in 2014, and her boyfriend, Marco Fassinotti, who now helps coach her, was also in the stands.
He enters this competition as a much better jumper than before and bounced back in his career by clearing two meters for the first time in four years. But the field in 2026, like Patterson, is very different from the one in 2014.
Where the Commonwealth Games can offer soft fields in some events, particularly those low-key games, the women’s high jump is not one of them, given that Nicola Olyslagers also compete in Australia.
Olyslagers is a two-time Olympic silver medalist and reigning world champion from Tokyo last year who also won the Diamond League and was named World Athletics athlete of the year. It also set a new Oceania record of 2.04 million last year. It will be difficult to beat him.
Temitope Adeshina from Nigeria also jumped 197 centimeters, while Lamara Distin from Jamaica and Rose Yeboah from Ghana also jumped 196 centimeters this year.
“Nicola and I are in incredible form. I mean, we both just competed in London. She jumped 201 and won. And in the competition four days ago, I jumped two meters and won,” Patterson said.
“I hadn’t jumped more than two meters in the last four years and I’d only jumped more than two meters at a major championship, so other than that doing this boosted my confidence. But at the same time, oh, that was a long time. I knew I could do it.”
“I jumped 197cm many times all year long, and even though I didn’t medal at the world outdoor events, I still jumped 197cm, which is a big jump. I knew I was ready for more, and it was only a matter of time. I’ve been knocking on that door for a very long time.”
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Michael Gleeson is an award-winning senior sports writer specializing in AFL and athletics.Connect with: X or email.
