Eleanor Patterson

Photo by Getty Images.

Eleanor Patterson is considered by the experts to be the most exciting youth women’s high jump prospect the world has seen for 30 years. Why? Consider this: if the 17-year-old had competed and recorded a 1.96m jump at the 2010 Commonwealth Games – like she did at the Australian All Schools Championships in Townsville last year – she would’ve won gold. Yep, Patterson is proving that Aussie women can jump, with the Victorian country girl’s ambitions well and truly locked on Glasgow 2014. We’re already pitying her fellow Comm Games high jump entrants ...

ELEANOR WHO?

Patterson, from Leongatha in regional Victoria, didn’t just leap to high jump stardom overnight. Rather, her potential for great things has been noticed across the globe over 12 months of eye-catching performances. Standing 1.82m tall, she appeared on the radar of talent-observers in July last year by soaring to an emphatic six-centimetre victory at the IAAF World Youth Championships in the Ukraine. It’s fitting that all the ensuing attention thrust in the direction of the shy year 12 Mary MacKillop Catholic Regional College student drew only a modest reaction, the kind expected from one of her very famous sporting heroes. “I admire anyone who works hard at any sport, especially in a humble manner, like Roger Federer,” Patterson says. “It was a great experience [winning at the IAAF World Youth Championships].” Eleanor’s coach, David Green, insists it was only outsiders to the close-knit Team Patterson who were astonished by her big-stage victory. “Nothing surprises me with Eleanor; I’m there all the time, so I know what she’s capable of,” says the 51-year-old. “Here with us, internally, we expected the result we got.”

Patterson’s Eastern European effort, however, would prove merely an entree to her feats to come, when in December last year she lifted her personal best to a mammoth 1.96m. That fly at the Australian All Schools Championships in Townsville created headlines in sports sections and news bulletins across the country. (Needless to say this superb lesson in high jumping to her young peers secured her the title?)  To put that extraordinary effort into perspective, only two Aussie women – Alison Inverarity and Vanessa Browne-Ward – have ever jumped higher. Of her amazing leap, Patterson says she “expected to improve” but admits “it’s always a surprise once it happens”. Green attributes the effort to the “five Ps”: perfect preparation prevents poor performance. “She’s very dedicated,” he says. “She’s very easy to coach, she never misses a session and she’s a good learner.” Consistency is another quality which will keep Patterson above the bar: in March she also won the 2014 national under 20s final in an Aussie Junior Athletics Champs meet record of 1.89m.

WHAT'S HER STORY?

Patterson’s infatuation with her chosen sport began in her formative years as an eight-year-old. “I first got into high jump in primary school through little athletics,” she recalls. “My earliest memories are running around and having fun with my friends.” Her enthusiasm and natural ability would eventually entice Green towards what’s been a long-lasting coaching relationship. “This is my seventh year of coaching her,” he says. “My kids are a similar age to Eleanor, so we’ve known her family for years. She began doing Little Athletics and it took off from there.” Patterson’s journey to rising superstar status certainly hasn’t been as aerodynamic as her high jump technique. She still mostly trains on grass (given her rural location) and juggles high school to boot. But she wouldn’t have it any other way. “I just love to jump and enjoy everything about training,” she says. “I won’t be moving to the city anytime soon.”

Photo by Getty Images.

WHO'S SHE LIKE?

Should Patterson win gold in Glasgow, she’ll leap into Australian high jump folklore up alongside Michele Brown, Robyn Woodhouse, Christine Frances Stanton and Inverarity, the chosen few who have achieved the aforementioned feat. Green, in his direct, country-style delivery, assures the Australian athletics community that plans are well in place for this to happen. “We always aim for a personal best at the major events,” he warns. “We don’t go into competitions to underperform.”

WHAT DO THEY SAY?

“Eleanor has an extremely good competitive mindset, one which I’ve rarely seen at junior level. She doesn’t get frazzled in competition and keeps a very calm approach. She has the ability to do very well in Glasgow and I’m sure we’ll see her in career-best form there.”

– Sara Mulkearns, Athletics Aus junior high performance manager