Some careers build slowly, brick by brick. Delta Amidzovski’s has been more like the long jump runway she has made her mark on – fast, direct and ending on a global stage.
Just twelve months after making history with Australia’s first world junior long jump title, she will wear the green and gold at her World Athletics Championships debut.
One year and six days ago to be precise, Amidzovski etched her name into the history books with a golden leap at the World Under 20 Championships. Now, she is packing her bags for Tokyo – the very last athlete added to the national team, her place secured on roll down.
“When I got the call, I was so shocked,” she said.
“It was very surreal, I wasn’t expecting it at all. I knew I had a good season but I was slipping in and out of the rankings, never expecting to be up there and was really content with how my season ended.”
If her World Under 20 gold was the spark, this year has been the fire. In her first year out of high school and in the Open age ranks, Amidzovski did what most athletes her age do. Grinding it out in her first European circuit, her first World University Games and a calendar of competitions that stretched and tested her in ways she’d never known before.
“In one word, it’s been experience,” she reflects. “I never really thought World Championships was a possibility, but I kept climbing the rankings this year and then it was.”
Her journey, like most athletes, has been less a straight line than a staircase. One step at a time, then suddenly looking back to see how far she has climbed.
When the selection call arrived, her first scramble wasn’t her spikes but syllabi. The University of Wollongong student quickly made arrangements so that she could be in Tokyo without penalisation from her studies.
“My classes are all compulsory,” she laughed. “I had a stack of assignments due so I had to beg for extensions before I even started thinking about what to pack.”
It’s the double life of the 19-year-old, one moment racing deadlines, the next racing down the runway. But what awaits her now is the unforgiving world of the long jump at the highest level. Olympic champions, global stars and the roar of packed stadiums. It’s a gulf that many teenagers never cross.
But Amidzovski, armed with consistency and confidence, is ready to take the plunge.
“Long jump is one of those events where anything can happen,” she says. “I’ve been jumping the best I ever have this year, really consistent. If a PB happens, that would be amazing.”
That belief stems from the medal that started it all.
“After that World Championships gold, it gave me so much more confidence in myself and my athletes. Wherever I competed this year, I knew I had a place there,” she said.
It’s that grounding which allows her to see Tokyo not as a finish line but the beginning of a long journey.
“I know it’s a big gap from juniors to seniors. I’ve still got many more years and hopefully more teams ahead but I’m ready to go.”
What excites her the most though, is joining a team she grew up idolising.
“Jessica Hull, Sarah Carli – they’ve both been amazing mentors. And a few people have reached out to me already to say, ‘this is your first team, we’ve got you.’ It’s been such a nice reminder that even in an individual sport, there is a sense of family.”
Her own family will be in the stands too. Her mother and coach, Becky Amidzovski and sister, watching as she takes her first steps into the arena.
From World Under 20 champion to senior team debutant, Amidzovski’s story is less about the velocity. The speed at which she has risen, the way one golden leap has given her the confidence to catapult herself into the rarified air of global competition.
“I’ve looked up to so many of these athletes and now I get to wear the same uniform. That’s something I’ll never forget.”
Watch Delta Amidzovski take off in the Women’s Long Jump qualifiers on Day One of competition at the World Athletics Championships, live and free on SBS and the Nine Network.
By Sascha Ryner, Australian Athletics
Posted 5/09/2025
