Sprint sensation Lachlan Kennedy has again broken the 10-second barrier to win his maiden national 100m title and punch his ticket to the Commonwealth Games.
The 22-year-old flaunted blistering pace to win Saturday’s final in 9.96 seconds in legal conditions at the national championships at Sydney Olympic Park.
Josh Azzopardi ran 10.16 to be second, with last year’s champion Rohan Browning trailing by 0.03 to finish third.
Kennedy claimed his first national crown a day after also clocking 9.96 in his heat to become the first Australian to break the 10-second barrier legally for the 100m on home soil.
National record-holder Patrick Johnson is the only other Australian to achieve the sub-10s feat, running 9.93 in Mito, Japan, in 2003.
‘Hopefully that’s just the standard now, hey?’ Kennedy said.
‘I needed the win. I needed to be national champ. I needed to say I had it.’
Such a performance has left Kennedy in doubt for a mouth-watering 200m showdown against teen sensation Gout Gout.
Kennedy pipped Gout to complete a 100m-200m double for the second successive year at last month’s Maurie Plant Meet.
‘I can’t give you a 100 per cent yes or no,’ Kennedy said of the 200m.
‘We’ll see how the body pulls up.’
Ignoring fireworks from the nearby Sydney Easter Show to nail his sizzling run, Kennedy said he felt there was no ceiling on what he could do.
The Queenslander is out to shave his time to 9.8 this year as he eyes gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
‘I want to be a two-time national champ next year, three times, as long as I can,’ Kennedy said.
‘I was gassed a little bit after the semi, but the fact I was able to come out after that and run that time just shows I’ve got so many more things to work on.
‘Yeah, sky’s the limit.’
Newly-crowned 1500m champion Claudia Hollingsworth appears poised to take the 800m title after middle-distance star Jessica Hull withdrew from Saturday’s heats due to soreness.
Hull had been in the box seat to nab her fourth-straight national 1500m crown on the second day of competition on Friday before falling over while leading in the final straight following a challenge from Hollingsworth.
Hollingsworth crossed the finish line first in 4:17.06, but was initially disqualified after two separate protests.
The 20-year-old was later reinstated as the race winner on Saturday after a successful appeal, before going on to win her 800m heat in 2:03.18.
Hull will still aim to compete in the 5000m on Sunday, having originally set herself the goal of winning an unprecedented middle-distance treble.
A request for a rerun of the 1500m was denied, with Athletics Australia saying it was not feasible to restage the race in Sydney.
Given the championships are also qualifiers for this year’s Commonwealth Games, the status of the 1500m as a selection race is under review.
‘I haven’t contacted Jess. There’s no bad blood from my end, and I’m sure there’s not from her,’ Hollingsworth said on Saturday.
‘We’re both mature athletes, and we both want the best for each other.’
Olympic champion Nina Kennedy was untouchable in the women’s pole vault, clearing 4.65m to clinch her fifth national title after an injury-wrecked 2025.
Peter Bol clocked 1:48.98 to cruise into the men’s 800m final, but Peyton Craig missed out on a spot after a diving effort from Degras Amekata to the finish line relegated the Paris Olympian to third in his heat.
