Liam calms nerves to reach new heights
A 40cm personal best leap has secured more than just a national record for Liam Georgilopoulos, with Gold Coast’s latest athletics whiz now armed with confidence and setting an even higher bar.
The 15-year-old shocked even himself at this month’s Australian Athletics Championships in Sydney when he produced a career-changing effort in a cutthroat final of the boys’ under-17 pole vault.
Locked in a battle with Victorian James Woods, Georgilopoulos cleared a personal best of 4.35m, prompting a new bar height of 4.45m for both athletes.
Despite neither being able to clear the new mark, the rivals could not be separated on countback.
Officials offered both athletes the chance to share the gold medal or continue in a sudden death shootout.
Both opted to go on. After unsuccessful attempts at 4.40m and 4.35m, Woods bowed out. Overcoming fatigue, Georgilopoulos cleared 4.40cm to reset his own expectations and snare the national title.
“I was very nervous knowing that this could be my chance to get a new 40cm personal best and win the event, but it could also be the moment where I could lose it,” said Georgilopoulos, coached by Howard Arbuthnot at Gold Coast Victory Athletics Club.
“As I stood on the runway and held my pole I was only thinking about trying to relax.
“I knew that the jump was going to be good as I left the ground. It has been by far the best moment of my life.
“(It) has inspired me to train harder than ever to qualify for the Australian team for the under-18 Oceania Games next year then the IAAF under-20 world championships in 2020,” he said.