‘On top of the world’: Aussie golden girl, broadcasting legend win top awards in 14yr first
Australia’s Nicola Olyslagers has soared to new heights after being named the female field athlete of the year by the World Athletics at a gala event in Monaco.
Australian broadcasting legend Bruce McAvaney was also honoured with the President’s Award, which recognised his enormous contribution to athletics for five decades.
It capped off a stellar, career-best season for Oyslagers including winning the women’s high jump at both the world outdoor and indoor championships.
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She also lifted the Oceanian record to 2.04 metres, secured the Diamond League trophy and ended the year as the world No. 1 women’s high jumper.
The 28-year old from North Gosford, New South Wales, became the second Australian to win the annual award after hurdler Sally Pearson in 2011.
“When we were flying over to Monaco, I reflected in my journal of when I was 20 years of age. I was working in a cafe, washing dishes in the back, saving money to try and get some flights to compete internationally and I was so far away from being competitive, but in the back of that cafe, I would dream,” Olyslagers said.
“I’d dream about places where I would try and compete if I could, and I would dream about what I would say to people if I could ever reach that level. And in that time, it took a lot of belief to even think about that but even if it was invisible to the world, it felt like I had something special.
“And now standing eight years later on this stage and in front of each one of you, I want to say that it has sustained me back then in washing dishes and it’s sustaining me now on top of the world.”
Sweden’s world pole vault champion Armand Duplantis (L) holds his Menâs field athlete of the year award and Australia’s world high jump champion Nicola Olyslagers (R) holds her Womenâs field athlete of the year award as they pose on stage during the World Athletics Awards 2025 in Monaco, on November 30, 2025. (Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP)Source: AFP
It comes after Olyslagers won the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paris 2024.
In other results, Swedish pole vault star Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis and US track sensation Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone were named athletes of the year.
Duplantis, 26, set four pole vault records in 2025 as he won world titles both indoors and outdoors.
He was unbeaten in 16 competitions and became the first men’s pole vaulter in modern history to go undefeated for two successive years.
Duplantis cleared 6.30 metres at the world championships in Tokyo after successfully retaining his title as he broke the world record for the 14th time in his career.
It is the third time that Duplantis has scooped the overall prize for the world’s top athlete. He also won it in 2020 and 2022.
McLaughlin-Levrone ran the second fastest time ever on her way to claiming the world 400m title.
She smashed the championship record and nearly eclipsed a 40-year-old world record set by Marita Koch of the former East Germany.
Already a double Olympic 400m hurdles champion, McLaughlin-Levrone became the first woman since 1985 to break the 48-second barrier in the 400m in Tokyo after fully turning her attention to the flat race. She also won the 4x400m.
Her time of 47.78sec trails only the 47.60sec run by Koch four decades ago, a record that is widely viewed with suspicion because of a state-sponsored doping programme at the time. Koch never failed a drugs test and has always maintained she did nothing wrong.
McLaughlin-Levrone, 26, has not been beaten in either the 400m or 400m hurdles for two years. She is the first athlete to win world titles in both events.
The American previously won the overall athlete of the year accolade in 2022. Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi won the men’s track award after adding the 800m world title to his Olympic gold, with McLaughlin-Levrone taking the equivalent female award.
Kenyan long-distance runner Sabastian Sawe took the men’s out of stadium prize following his wins at the London and Berlin marathons.
Spanish racewalker Maria Perez won the women’s equivalent as she defended her world titles in the 20km and 35km walks.
-With AFP
