On his way to the medal, Thomson won the 100m, 400m and 1500m of the decathlon, while finishing second in pole vault, discus and high jump – including claiming six personal bests and equally another three.

“I opened the first day of competition by running a 11.7 seconds in the 100m, which was a personal best,” Thomson said.

“I then jumped 5.40m in the long jump before getting a personal best in the shot put with 10m.

“I could have gone better in the discus but I finished the first day in style by winning the 400m in a personal best time.

“At the end of the first day, I felt really good and thought I was a good chance for a medal – as heading into the competition I always knew by second day was better than my first.”

After heading into day two near the top of the rankings, the Nowra Anglican College student finished off his two-day competition strongly.

“The first event on day two was the 110m hurdles, which a claimed second, with a personal best,” Thomson said.

“I then managed 1.82m in the high jump – another personal best.

“Then, in poring rain and sideways wind, I somehow managed second in the pole vault – again in a personal best of 3.30m.

“I finished off the competition by throwing 40m in the javelin, another personal best, before winning the 1500m – which is my strongest event.

“This secured me the silver medal, which is easily the highest achievement of my career to date.”

This is a remarkable achievement for Thomson, who is relatively new to the sport.

“I first started athletics at the age of 11 but gave it away for a little bit soon after,” he said.

“Then when I returned to athletics, I was more into the running and it wasn’t until my coach, about 12 months ago, suggested I make the transition to decathlon.

“The biggest adjustment I had to make was in the throwing events, as I had never really done them.

“So I got into the gym and did one-on-one sessions with Sam Peace, as well as doing Sunday morning sessions with coaches Barry and Laurie, to get them up to scratch.”

After what has been the most successful 12 months of his career, which included state and national silver medal, Thomson, 16, has been nominated for the Athletics Australia under 17 talented athlete program, which will take place at the Australian Institute of Sport later this year.

“I’m honoured and excited to head to Canberra and be part of the program,” he said.

“There’s going to be so much I can learn and use in the future and help me achieve my goals.

“I’d love to secure a world championship qualifier but know a lot of hard work is required to achieve that.

“Even further down the path, I’d love to represent Australia at both the Commonwealth and Olympics Games.”