Nicola Olyslagers has soared to global glory with a last-gasp leap, annexing the high jump gold at the world indoor athletics championships in Glasgow. 

The main hope in Australia's small but strong team in Scotland, Olympic silver medallist Olyslagers once more rose to the big occasion on Friday night (Saturday AEDT).

But this time she landed the big prize, clinching her first global crown after finishing second in Tokyo and third at the 2023 world outdoor championships in Budapest.

And she earned her win in the most dramatic fashion, needing a third and final attempt to clear 1.99 metres and turn what looked set to be another silver into gold.

With her big rival, Ukraine's defending champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh having suffered one less failure and already cleared the same 1.97m height as her, the Central Coast athlete knew only going over at 1.99m would be good enough for gold.

With a big smile as she prepared for the jump and egged on by the packed crowd in the arena, Olyslagers then delivered a superb clearance, well over the bar, which Mahuchikh then just couldn't respond to with a third failure at the height.

Olyslagers went on to have three cracks at 2.02m to no avail, but it didn't matter as she had already lifted the global gold that had long deserted the consistent 27-year-old.

She became the eighth Australian to win gold in the indoor championships' 39-year annals and the first since Sally Pearson in the 60m hurdles in 2012.

Having equalled the Oceania record of 2.03m in her season opener outdoors in January, Olyslagers was along with Mahuchikh the only jumper to have cleared 2 metres in 2024.

In fine form, it always looked likely to be a duel for gold between the pair.

But while the 22-year-old Mahuchikh, world champ indoor and out, wasn't quite at her best, the studious Olyslagers, who records her form and details of her performances in between jumps by scribbling in her "little book of gold", could afford to give herself top marks.

The only disappointment for the Aussie challenge was compatriot and rival Eleanor Patterson, who took silver ahead of Olyslagers in Budapest last year, wasn't in the field, having decided to withdraw earlier in the week to concentrate on her Olympic preparations back home.

Olyslagers toppling Mahuchikh wasn't the only spectacular duel on the opening night of the three-day championships, with the eagerly awaited blue riband men's 60 metres title being annexed by former champion Christian Coleman ahead of his US compatriot Noah Lyles.

Coleman, the 2019 world 100m champ, exploded from the blocks to edge Lyles, triple champ in Budapest last year, by three-hundredths of a second, winning in a world-leading 6.41 seconds.