Updated ,first published
With Easter Show fireworks exploding in the background, sprint king Lachlan Kennedy turned on more pyrotechnics of his own to be officially crowned Australia’s fastest man in Sydney on Saturday, cruising to the 100m title with yet another sub-10 second run.
Just 24 hours after running 9.96s in the heats – the first time an Australian had broken 10 seconds on home soil – Kennedy proved it was no fluke by clocking the same time in the final.
He beat out Josh Azzopardi and Rohan Browning, winning his first national title and avenging his shock loss to Browning in the 100m at Australian nationals last year in Perth.
Ignoring loud fireworks popping off during the hushed start, Kennedy exploded from the blocks and was never challenged. It was the same time as the night before, and an equal PB, but this one was a more impressive performance given Kennedy had run a semi-final earlier in the night (in 10.06s), and conditions were much cooler.
“I just block all the noise out and just try and dial in – fireworks is definitely something different,” Kennedy said.
“I needed the win. I needed to be national champ, I needed to say I had it. It’s a big relief to be able to finally do it, in front of an awesome crowd and against great competitors.”
Kennedy now has four of the five fastest times run by an Australian, but said he believed he hadn’t run close to a perfect race, and he is not only aiming to break Patrick Johnson’s national record of 9.93s this year, but also join the elite club of athletes who’ve run 9.8s.
“I’ve definitely got more in the tank,” he said. “I was gassed a little bit after the semi, but the fact I was able to come out run that time just shows I’ve got so many more things to work on. The sky is the limit.
“I have no idea (how fast). I want to try and go 9.8s this year, and I definitely want to break the Aussie record. We’ll see.”
The only dampener for fans came when Kennedy said he couldn’t guarantee he would duel with Gout Gout in the 200m on Sunday afternoon, after three intense 100m efforts. He said he’d see how he pulls up before the 200m heats in the morning.
“I can’t give you a 100 per cent yes or no – I don’t want to promise anything and then not deliver,” he said. “We’ll wait and see, see how my body pulls up and listen to the experts, physios and all that.”
Having put Kennedy and Gout on promotional posters, Athletics Australia will be hoping the 100m champion pulls up fine, particularly with doubt also swirling about whether superstar Jess Hull will run on Sunday.
Earlier on Saturday, Hull’s bid to become the first Australian woman to win national titles in the 800m, the 1500m and the 5000m ended when the Olympic silver medallist withdrew from the 800m due to soreness.
Hull was due to race in the 800m heats on Saturday night, but informed officials she would not be racing after pulling up sore from a dramatic fall in the final stages of the 1500m final on Friday night.
The 29-year-old was leading the field with 60 metres to go when rival Claudia Hollingsworth attempted to move off the rail behind her and clipped Hull’s legs, who fell hard on the track.
Hollingsworth crossed in first and was later disqualified, but the 20-year-old Victorian appealed, and an independent panel reinstated her as the 1500m national champion on Saturday.
Athletics Australia said a request to re-run the race had been denied, but didn’t specify who had made the request. Amid reports Hull had withdrawn from the championships entirely, AA said it was still hoped she would run in the 5000m on Sunday.
Speaking after winning her heat of the 800m – and wearing a massive spike mark on her left shin – Hollingsworth said she’d had an “up and down” 24 hours, but believed the right call had been made by the appeals panel.
“You never like to see any athlete go down, but it was a fair race,” Hollingsworth said.
“Obviously [I] felt bad for what happened and I hope she’s okay. I think we all raced fairly and it was just a battle in the race.”
“There’s no bad blood from my end and I’m sure there’s not from her. We respect each other a lot and I definitely am willing to reach out for sure and make sure she’s OK. We’re both mature athletes and we both want the best for each other. So I’m really hoping to see her at the next meet, whenever that is, and race really well against each other again.”
Hull had set herself the ambitious target of winning three events at this meet, after entering the 800m, 1500m and 5000m.
That fell over when she did on Friday, but Hull was still a strong chance of completing a career grand slam in the same trio of events, and only needed to win the 800m this year, to go with multiple titles in the 1500m and 5000m in previous years. No Australian woman has ever achieved the feat.
Hull’s selection in the 1500m for the Commonwealth Games team will now have to wait. Hollingsworth’s win (and prior qualifying time) will likely see her among the group of automatic selections for the team named on Sunday afternoon.
Hull has an A qualifying time, but will she have to wait for selectors to name the remaining athletes using discretionary picks at a later stage. It is inconceivable that Hull would not get selected for a spot in the 1500m, given her world-class results in the last three years. But selection in the 800m may not be as straight-forward.
Leading men’s 800m runner Peyton Craig, an Olympic semi-finalist in 2024, also faces an uphill fight to make the Commonwealth Games team after a brain fade while slowing up at the line in his heat saw him miss the final.
In other results, Nina Kennedy cruised to victory in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.65m, Mackenzie Little won the javelin (58.87m), and Roman Anastasios won the men’s high jump with a 2.20m.
Power pair Reece Holder and Ellie Beer claimed national titles in the 400 metres and Queensland’s Georgia Harris won the women’s 100m in 11.5s.
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Iain Payten is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.
