She and fellow Australian Eleanor Patterson are still only warming up for the women's high jump final, which will be decided before the night is through.

The field is 13 women strong but few words are exchanged between them. Even Olyslagers and Patterson, united in so many ways, remain distant.

This is an isolating event, with far more time spent alone with one's thoughts than in the actual act of competition. Olyslagers's purposeful stroll is a way for her to take control of a potentially wandering mind and conserve her energy.

It's not the only technique employed. Patterson lays out a towel for herself away from the others, a place she can sit alone and indulge in her process.

Olyslagers famously has her notebook, in which she assesses every jump she makes by a handful of key metrics from one to 10 — she's never given herself a 10, as she's never yet reached her own version of perfection.

Though these athletes compete against each other, they are really battling against their own limitations. It's a painfully individual endeavour, and as much time is spent preparing for the explosive moments of action as battling the silence in between.

Both of the Australians ease through their initial jumps, as does most of the competition. Olyslagers and Patterson are among the strongest medal prospects in the field, and would be considered the gold medal favourites if not for one woman.

Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine stands alone as not only the best jumper at these Games, but possibly the best in history. Less than a month ago she set a new world record at a Diamond League event here in Paris, clearing a bar set at an incredible 2.10m.

But Olyslagers and Patterson can't worry about Mahuchikh just yet. 

Of the pair of them, Olyslagers has generally taken the lion's share of public attention, even though their records are remarkably similar.

Olyslagers can boast an Olympic medal already, having taken the silver in Tokyo with the performance that put her on the national map. But Patterson has a World Championship to her name from Oregon 2022, something Olyslagers can not match.

Patterson's personal best is 2.02m. Olyslagers's is 2.03m.

Two athletes, born only a few months apart, whose rises have coincided and led to an Australian double-threat on the world stage. Centimetres separate these two — centimetres, and a bit of style.

At the top her run, Olyslagers holds her arms out, beams a radiant smile, crosses her fingers and takes off.

Patterson, off a run much longer than Nicola's, stares an icy glare, takes a deep breath and initiates her move with a couple of swaggy struts, as if she's trying to intimidate the bar at the other end.

Olyslagers and Mahuchikh clear the 1.98 bar with ease, but it's at this point that everyone else remaining is tripped up — including Patterson.

Her first two attempts dislodge the bar, and suddenly she's on the verge of elimination.

Back at the top of her run up, this time Patterson gestures for a bit of extra propulsion from the crowd. She gets it, takes off, and clips the bar again.

Her disappointment is clear but momentary, as her flawless record up until that 1.98m height means she will share a bronze medal with Ukraine's Iryna Gerashchenko. Not the heights she had hoped to hit, but a first Olympic medal nonetheless.

After a interminable pause as the women's 800m semis are completed, Olyslagers and Mahuchikh are suddenly in something akin to a jump off for Olympic gold.

The ease with which Mahuchikh clears the 2m bar suggests it could soon be a one-horse race. Olyslagers fails in her first attempt, and then her second.

The smile only gets wider. Olyslagers returns to her seat briefly to catch her breath — and jot her findings down in her journal — before a final attempt at keeping the dream of gold alive.

By now the crowd is fixated on her. Olyslagers exchanges some words to herself — or more likely a higher power — and sets off for a fateful jump. She floats over the bar like a feather, and the roar tells her all she needs to know. Still alive.

Once again, Olyslagers turns to her journal to fill the vacant time. Mahuchikh meanwhile has the sleeping bag unravelled and lays down with her eyes closed, seemingly taking a little nap in the middle of an Olympic final. Nice for some.

Both Olyslagers and Mahuchikh miss their first two cracks at 2.02m, but with the countback in play and because she missed her first two attempts at 2m, it's sudden death for the Australian.

The process remains the same, the smile never leaves her face, but the bar is firmly knocked clear. Silver for Olyslagers, to go with Patterson's bronze, as best in the world Mahuchikh takes the gold.

Mahuchikh has one last failed attempt at clearing 2.04m, just for the hell of it, and then the celebrations can begin. The medallists unite with their flags, two Australian and two Ukranian, and set off on victory laps.

Competition goes on around them. Hammers are being thrown and the blocks are being readied for the 100m final, but the champions take their adulation as and when it comes.

Olyslagers and Patterson are very different people, but they are bonded by some exclusive commonalities.

To get where they are, they've each had to become comfortable within their own minds. They've taken differing routes to get there, but the destination has been the same.

They're also both now Olympic medallists. 

In meets to come, in those silent in-betweens, what a comforting thought that will be.