On the Paris Games’ night of nights, there they are: two women in green and gold, front and centre of the athletics world’s biggest show. In front of 70,000 at the Stade de France, hundreds of millions on television, sharing the stage with the titans of athletics, of sprinter Noah Lyles and his 100m rivals. And, of course, high jump world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh.

The only woman who can challenge her, Nicola Olyslagers was there again standing at the top of her run. Talking to herself, urging on the crowd, tapping into their energy in a bid to clear the bar just one more time, and push the Ukrainian a little more. Eleanor Patterson, lurching in seconds from disappointment to the most memorable embrace of the night, shared with her joint bronze medal-winner Iryna Gerashchenko.

The Australians are both brilliant athletes, at or near the peak of their powers. And both are compelling, if different, personalities.

“It was very intense in a lot of ways, because a part of me always was kind of like, maybe I don’t deserve this bronze medal,” Patterson says afterwards.

After her early run of successful jumps, three attempts at clearing 1.98m ended in failure. Patterson walked over and lay down, putting her hands to her head in dismay, in recognition of the fact that a medal seemed only the remotest of possibilities. At that stage she was to finish third, at best. A bronze medal only if she was lucky.

Yet one by one, the other competitors tried, and failed. Seconds later, Patterson is on her feet, sharing her moment with Gerashchenko. Other competitors offered sincere congratulations, the sentiment more poignant after the pair had finished immediately out of the medals in Tokyo.

From there, it was to be a historic day for Australian athletics, a rare feat guaranteed. There would be two Australians sharing the podium for the first time in an Olympics field event. Even if track competition is considered, the last time two in green and gold were part of the same Olympic athletics medal ceremony was 1968.

“We’re just two country kids who just started to jump and enjoy it, and then here we are on the world stage,” Patterson says. “It’s like having two sisters that are different, but also similar,” Olyslagers adds.

The pair were born seven months apart in 1996, each an hour or two from a major city. They have known each other for more than half their lives, pushing each other to the sport’s greatest height, their elite careers closely intertwined.

Both have won major meets – Patterson the 2022 world championships, Olyslagers the world indoor championships earlier this year, plus her Tokyo silver. And both have been near the top of the rankings for more than a full Olympic cycle now. “There is a lot of similarities, but at the same time, I mean, everyone’s different,” Patterson says.

As high jumpers, their contrasts are obvious. Olyslagers has a shorter, bouncier run up, approaching the bar from the left. Patterson, much further back, a little jig before she launches herself at speed in from the right. “What I love is that with me and Eleanor, we have quite different techniques and different approaches, but yet we still jump really, really high,” Olyslagers says. “And it’s not a cookie cutter [sport]. When you come to high jump, you just have to get over the bar.”

Speak with them, and their differences are even more apparent. The silver medallist’s sense of self is deeply entwined with her religion. “I love God enough to know that I can believe when he says you’re going to be okay,” Olyslagers says.

Patterson’s outlook has less clarity, and she is more introspective. “Clearly, I stew on a lot of things, and clearly, sometimes my confidence can – it’s a strange thing to think that I’m an Olympic medallist, and sometimes my confidence isn’t up there,” she says. “But at the same time, you know, I want to go out there, and I want to make a difference.”

Both have a strong sense of purpose. Olyslagers swears by her process and learning from each experience, exemplified by her notebook. And her faith is never far away.

Patterson realised in 2022, after her world championship win, spiritual harmony could not be derived from medals alone. “I actually struggled with that for a while. So I was like, ‘oh, cool, I’ve won this medal, but does it mean it doesn’t matter if I’m a terrible person or I’m a good person,” she says. “Just this moral compass… clearly I’m an over-thinker.”

Their approaches may be different, but they are not done with medals yet. “I think there’s great potential for higher heights and higher national records.” Olyslagers says. “I’m just thinking by Los Angeles [in 2028], we’re going to have something really magnificent come around.”