Delta Amidzovski smashes Olympics legend Sally Pearson’s junior 100m hurdles national record

The record was in place since 2003.

Young Delta Amidzovski rewrote the Australian National Record in Under-18 100m hurdles. The 16-year-old smashed the previous record held by former Olympic champion Sally Pearson with a lightning timing of 13.02 seconds at the Australian Junior Championships 2023.

Pearson scripted the original record at 13.14 seconds in 2003. Nearly 20 years after, her record was eclipsed by 0.12s by a young Delta Amidzovski, who also won the national junior long jump title. Delta's previous Personal Best in 100m hurdles was 13.42 seconds which she had produced in February earlier this year.

After the win, Amidzovski said to The Sydney Morning Herald, “I was just about to cry at the finish line, it’s such a blessing. You put in so much hard work and see it all pay off - it’s an indescribable feeling. Sally has always been an idol. She’s the best Australian hurdler of all-time, so to break her record is a dream come true for any athlete.”

Who is Sally Pearson?

Sally Pearson was Australia’s most sought athlete in the late 2000s when she won the silver and gold medals at Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympics. She achieved success at a very young age winning the gold medal at the World Youth Athletic Championships 2003.

In the following year, she won the bronze medal at the World Junior Championships and was up to achieve big at the senior set-up. As expected, she won her first medal in seniors (2006 Commonwealth Games - bronze medal).  

She rose to prominence when she won the silver medal at the Beijing Olympics and then gold medal at the London Olympics. At the World Championships 2011 in Daegu, South Korea, Pearson ran 200m hurdles (12.28), the fourth fastest time in history, following the semi-finals where she produced the equal fifth fastest time in the history of 12.36s to beat her own Oceanian Area Record and Australian National Record.

Sally Pearson’s Achievements

Commonwealth Games - Gold medal (2010 and 2014) and Bronze medal (2006)

World Junior Championships - Bronze medal (2003)

World Indoor Athletics Championships - Gold Medal (2012) and Silver medal (2014)

World Championships - Gold medal (2011 and 2017) and Silver medal (2013)

Olympic Games - Gold medal (2012) and Silver medal (2008)

Continental Cup - Gold medal (2010)