“Jumping two metres? You need a bit of faith to believe in that!",,,
High jumper says medal dream won’t become focus of her life…
Australian high jumper Nicola McDermott has her eyes set on a gold medal in Tokyo. But her real focus is her faith in Jesus Christ.
After announcing her arrival on the international athletics scene with a Commonwealth Games bronze medal in 2018, McDermott is keen to move further up the podium.
And she is looking forward to the Tokyo games starting after it was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. For McDermott, though, there is more to life than trophy cabinets.
She said: “My faith is the reason I have stayed in the sport so long. Faith is the confidence in things you haven’t seen, right?
“Jumping two metres? When I was an eight-year-old, jumping 1.15m – you need a bit of faith to believe in that.
“I pursued sport so hard until I was 20 that I thought that was what would make me happy – once I was an Olympian, once I reached something, then I’d be happy. I got to a level where I had everything I ever dreamed of, but I was still dissatisfied – I realised I had put my identity into performance and achievement.
“Faith for me was realising that I am loved regardless of performance – high jumping is simply a way to connect me to God.”
Keen to share her faith with fellow athletes, McDermott is the co-founder of Everlasting Crowns.
The ministry is designed to help connect competitors with other Christians and chaplains during competition periods.
She added: “Every competition I go to provides an opportunity to showcase what it means to jump without expectation, and encourage those around me that their identity isn’t in what they do.
“I do a lot of athletics, but I also do a lot of ministry. I keep the focus on making my identity outside of sport – I do sport, but it’s not who I am.
“That’s been the breakthrough for me – realising that my performance does not determine my identity. Once you do that, you realise that it doesn’t matter whether you win the Olympics or come last, you’re still the same person.”
With her faith in Jesus and self-belief, McDermott is raring to take on the next challenge of reaching an Olympic podium and knows it will require her greatest performance yet.
“I know that I am going to have to get a PB to medal,” she said. “I think I have the potential to jump a PB at the Olympics, to break that 2m barrier.
“I can’t determine what I will jump that day, but I can control how I approach it. I’m going for a medal – I wouldn’t say I’m just going for a good time.”
