Eleanor Patterson

Biography

Eleanor Patterson’s journey into athletics began almost serendipitously at eight years old after tagging along with a friend to Little Athletics. Having grown up in the small town of Leongatha, Victoria, with limited access to top facilities, she relied on sheer passion and determination to excel.

Her inspiration came from seeing London 2012 Olympian Kaila McKnight, also from a neighboring small town, reach the pinnacle of the sport. By the age of 13, Eleanor was already capturing national titles and broke the World U18 record in 2013 with a leap of 1.96m.

Eleanor's international breakthrough came with a gold medal at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games while still in school. Despite some setbacks in subsequent years, including missing the Rio 2016 Olympic final and opting out of major competitions, Eleanor rebounded in 2019 under the mentorship of coach Alex Stewart.

By 2020, she was smashing records with a personal best of 1.99m, setting new benchmarks in Australian athletics. Her consistency paid off with a fifth-place finish at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and several major wins in 2022, including setting an indoor record of 2.00m at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade.

Injury struck in 2023, but once again Eleanor showed her resilience by making a strong comeback to secure a silver medal at the World Championships in Budapest with a jump of 1.99m. Now poised for her third Olympic appearance in Paris 2024, Eleanor remains a beacon of perseverance and excellence in the high jump world.