Nick Hough and Cedric Dubler claimed brilliant breakthrough bronzes and the mercurial Henry Frayne produced the best jump of his life on a very big track and field day for Australia at the Commonwealth Games.
Hough picked the perfect time to smash his PB in the 100m hurdles final as he stormed home to finish third behind a pair of Jamaicans, earning Australia's first Commonwealth medal in the event since 1986.
The decathlon was thrown wide open on Tuesday when gold-medal favourite Damian Warner from Canada no-heighted in the pole vault and Dubler was among those who took full advantage.
There were further medals for the host nation in the women's hammer, where Alex Hulley and Lara Nielsen finished second and third behind Kiwi Julia Ratcliffe.
Australia also had a night out in the wheelchair racing, with Madison de Rozario and Angie Ballard going one-two in the women's T54 1500m and Kurt Fearnley and Jake Lappin claiming silver and bronze in the men's race.
But perhaps the unlikeliest medal of day three came from Hough, who was ranked 12th in the 110m hurdles field coming into the meet.
He was very good in the heats and even better in the final as he clocked 13.38 seconds to strip four hundredths of a second from his PB set back in 2015.
"I think I clobbered one hurdle harder than I've ever clobbered a hurdle in my life but there was no way they were ever going to stop me," Hough said.
"I think I might have broken one of them."
Dubler singled out the pole vault as the pivotal discipline in the decathlon, as he recorded the best clearance of 5m, while Warner no-heighted to crash out of contention after making the early running.
"I was always targeting a podium finish," the Australian said.
"I never really wanted it to come down to someone getting disqualified for me to come up and it's really tough to see."
Frayne's record-setting display in the long jump was six long years in the making.
Already in 2018, he's battled groin, calf and hamstring complaints.
But when his body doesn't let him down, as was thankfully the case in the qualifying round at Carrara Stadium, he's a force to reckon with.
With his only jump, Frayne soared out to 8.34m, bettering his PB of 8.27m set way back in 2012 and also shattering the Games record of 8.30m previously held by fellow Australian Fabrice Lapierre.
"That wasn't a 100 per cent jump for me, it was pretty cruisy," said the 27-year-old.
"Hopefully I can add a bit more tomorrow night."
In other action, Linden Hall was a brave fourth in a women's 1500m won in Games record time by powerhouse South African Caster Semenya.
Steve Solomon was seventh in a men's 400m final dominated by Botswanan flyer Isaac Makwala, while Australian Anneliese Rubie clocked a PB of 51.51 to qualify for the women's 400m final on Wednesday.
Australian Associated Press
