Darcy Roper has smashed the national Under-18 long jump record to claim silver at the world youth athletics championships in Colombia and is setting his sights on a spot in the Australian team for next month's senior world titles.
Roper bettered his personal best with a huge leap of 8.01m in the final round in Cali to finish just 4cm behind Cuba's Maykel Demetrio Masso, who won the gold with 8.05m.
"There's no disappointment," said the 17-year-old Queenslander.
"It would have been great to get the gold, I came here to win and give the Cubans a good go but an Australian record is amazing and finally getting in the eights, I'm not too disappointed.
"It felt great and I know there is still room for improvement.
"Technically there are a few things I can fix up and hopefully get me closer to the Beijing qualifier."
Roper has three weeks to better the world championships qualifying mark of 8.10m.
Roper's silver-medal effort surpassed the previous Australian youth record of 7.95m set by Chris Noffke in 2005.
He had been battling a hamstring injury in the build-up to the championships.
"I tried not to let it get to me," he said.
"It's really hard to put it in the back of your mind when it's hurting but I managed to use the crowd to help me."
Louis Stenmark booked a spot in the 400m final in Cali with a PB of 46.78 in the semis - the sixth-fastest time overall.
Victorian Ned Weatherly advanced to the hammer throw final with a best effort of 77.49m in the qualifying round and Queenslander Brenton Foster qualified for the boys' high jump final.
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