Good things come to those who wait, and Liam Adcock has had to be more patient than most.
At 28, the Australian long jumper is a late bloomer on the global stage. He won his first international title only last year in the Oceanian championships, before taking a first global medal with bronze at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing in March.
On Friday evening, he reached the next milestone with his first ever Diamond League win in Rome. And once again, it proved to be a waiting game.
In a competition of extraordinary depth even for Diamond League standards, Adcock was one of five men who cleared eight metres at the Pietro Mennea Golden Gala.
Yet he went into the Final 3 in third place behind Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou and World Indoor Champion Mattia Furlani.
That meant that Adcock’s final effort would be the last jump of the competition: an all-or-nothing leap of faith at the last.
After Tentoglou failed to improve his mark, it looked as if the competition might peter out in the final round. Yet then Mattia Furlani stepped up and all hell broke loose.
Inspired by a raucous Italian crowd, the local favourite pulled out an astonishing 8.10m to snatch tp spot from Tentoglou and secure what appeared to be the first home win of the evening.
Adcock, however, had other ideas. With the stadium still rocking after Furlani’s success, Adcock delivered a final sting in the tale with a monster personal best of 8.34m.
As jaws dropped across Rome, the Italian set off across the famous turf and track, celebrating with his trademark backflips.
“I was not feeling that great when I was coming into it but then I felt the crowd and I really appreciate the crowd support. It was a great competition tonight and the PB is awesome. It was pretty cool to save the best for the last,” he said.
