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Nicola Lauren McDermott (born 28 December 1996) is an Australian high jumper, with Croatian ancestry. She competed in the women's high jump at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics in London. McDermott also competed in the women's high jump at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, where she achieved a personal best jump of 1.91 m and won the bronze medal. On 20 June 2019, McDermott jumped a personal best of 1.96 m at Mestský Stadion, Ostrava, Czech Republic. Achieving a new personal best of 1.98 m in Sinn, Germany, on 29 August 2020, she rose to second place in the all-time list of Australian women high jumpers.

McDermott currently studies biochemistry part-time at the University of Sydney.

Early life
McDermott was born in North Gosford on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. She has Croatian ancestry on her mother's side, with both of her maternal grandparents being born and raised in Blato and moving to Sydney after World War II "for the new opportunities Australia presented". McDermott's cultural heritage had a significant impact on her upbringing, as her grandfather helped raise her as a child, so that they ate Croatian food "every day" and frequently called their relatives in Croatia.

McDermott believes her Croatian heritage has had a large impact on her athletic career, saying:"I believe the Croatian genetics gives an advantage to the physique for many sports due to the height, however, I think the theory can extend also to the Croatian lifestyle being very well acquainted for successful athletes. We learn to work hard, value family and honour the community that we’re placed in – so, if that is partnered with talent, I believe it is a good equation for sports."McDermott attended Greenpoint Christian College. When McDermott was 8 years old, she was "two heads taller" than the rest of her cohort, "terrible at every sport" and "not very strong or coordinated". In Year 2, she competed in her school's Athletics carnival and performed very well, leading her parents to enrol her in Little Athletics. McDermott was inspired by watching Blanka Vlašić, a fellow Croatian, attempt the world record in women's high jump. At 9 years old, McDermott began high jumping and has "never looked back since then". Her father had been a runner in school and dreamed of competing in and winning the Stawell Gift, a dream which he tried to pass on to his daughter. However, when it became clear that McDermott loved competing in high jump and had a "really good coach" at her club, her parents were very supportive and encouraged her to pursue it. When she was 10 years old, McDermott won the Little Athletics state championships for her age group and "broke a few records". The teachers at her school were supportive and "passionate about her gift".

McDermott began training with her current coach, Matt Horsnell, in 2007 when she was 11 years old and attending Gosford Little Athletics. She trained alongside Chris Dodd, a then 17-year-old who achieved a height of 2.23 m before his career was cut short in 2015 after being run over by a car while trying to push his 4-year-old daughter out of harm's way. Horsnell described Dodd as "a great mentor for Nicola back then". At 16, McDermott began intensively training five days a week.

Her parents "taught her to be genuine" and to love people without judgment, not seeing people "based on their gender or which country they come from or what they look like", but to see people for who they really are.

Career
As part of her first international team at the 2017 London IAFF World Championships, McDermott no-heighted. Following this, she felt that people had an expectation that she "can't perform under pressure". Nevertheless, McDermott "had a lot of peace" on the day of her next international competition, the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and "left it in God's hands", knowing that if she could achieve a personal best, she would get a medal. McDermott ended up achieving a personal best of 1.91 m and won the bronze medal. This was a turning point in her career where she felt that her dream of consistently jumping 2 m was possible. "Yet for me, I didn’t just want to just clear 2m once, but to be a consistent 2m jumper on the international circuit and to win an Olympic medal. It is a big goal, but when I put all the training and work that goes with this and trust God, I know that faith is what carries me over the high jump bar and nothing will be impossible."(add detail) She dominated at the 2020 Canberra Track Classic.

Bauhaus-Galan

McDermott achieved her current personal best of 1.98 m on her third attempt while competing at the Sportplatz Fleisbach for the Sinner Hochsprung-Meeting in Sinn, Germany, on 29 August 2020, raising her rank from fourth to second place among Australian women high jumpers. The all-time record had been raised to 1.99 m in February 2020 by Eleanor Patterson.

In response to the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, McDermott had to alter her schedule to continue training longer than usual, with her coach saying, "Nicola’s view is that she will be better in 2021, so bring it on."

On 4 September 2020 at the Brussels Diamond League, McDermott came first with a jump of 1.91 m.

On 6 September 2020 at the Nacht van de Atletiek in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, McDermott came first with a jump of 1.96 m.

McDermott competed in Croatia for the first time on 14 September 2020 at the Zagreb Meeting, achieving equal second place with a height of 1.90 m.

Education
From 2015 to 2020, McDermott has been completing a Bachelor of Science, majoring in biochemistry, at the University of Sydney through the university's Elite Athlete Program.

Faith and ministry
McDermott became convinced of the reality of God and his love at the age of 16 while attending a youth camp, where she "experienced tangibly" the Holy Spirit as she was being prayed for, a feeling she compares to "electricity" going through her body and as if "colour" had come to a world she'd been seeing "in black and white". In 2017, during the London World Championships, McDermott decided to run a bible study in her hotel room. She expected "one or two" people, but ended up having 25 people attend, which was too many to fit in the room. She described the experience as a "revival meeting" in which the athletes experienced "miracles", which made her realise that "God is so much more powerful" than her conception of him had been. McDermott has said she is motivated to push forward in her career and work hard by her knowledge that her ultimate reward isn't in "the here and now" but is "in heaven".

Before a competition, McDermott is in the habit of talking to her sports chaplains and praying. She attends church on the Central Coast where she has led youth groups.

Her ministry, Everlasting Crowns, was founded by herself, her best friend and a couple of other athletes. They aimed to be a "support network in athletics and in sport in general" that helps show athletes that "their identity isn't in their performance", but that they can perform through "joy and passion" knowing the "grace and love" of God, without having their performance "tainted with expectations". Everlasting Crowns began as a bible study group and eventually became a "connecting fellowship page" to encourage, pray for and teach athletes online and in athlete villages.

Personal life
She likes playing piano, cooking, writing and water colour painting.

McDermott said of competing in Croatia for the first time:"I am very connected to my roots which makes this competition very special to me... I am very close to my family members who live in Prigadica, which is a short drive from Blato. I love this place from the relaxed lifestyle on the water, as well as the beautiful community there. When I visit my family, they usually go fishing, and one of my favourite meals is the fish cooked on the wood fire barbecue with spinach, potatoes and salad. I could eat that every day."For other articles: Blanka Vlasic has inspired a new generation of young athletes worldwide,  including high jumpers Lissa Labiche and Nicola McDermott.

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/good-news/insights-from-a-high-jumper-who-won-a-medal-today/

https://nicolamcdermott.com/ministry-1?fbclid=IwAR0PwciYu_VYOciMW6xLeprLOit0vnnMfpzaj1rRLXKpujJbQpNns5SyV48