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Updated April 10, 2026 — 8:07pm,first published 3:59pm
Sprint star Lachlan Kennedy has made history by becoming the first Australian to legally break the 10-second barrier on home soil after a scorching run in the 100-metre heats of the national titles in Sydney.
Kennedy sizzled to victory in the first heat and stopped the clock in a time of 9.96 seconds.
But the sizzling run wasn’t the end of the drama for the night, after Olympic silver medallist Jess Hull was denied her fourth straight 1500m crown after being tripped up and falling when leading in the home straight.
Young rival Claudia Hollingsworth appeared to be the cause of the fall after attempting to shift from the inside rail behind Hull. The young Victorian finished first, but the result was immediately protested by Hull’s camp.
Kennedy’s outstanding 100m was the second-fastest time ever run by an Australian and the second sub-10s time for Kennedy after a 9.98s seconds run in Kenya last year. It was just 0.03 seconds behind the Australian record of Patrick Johnson, who ran 9.93s in 2003.
But the time carried far more significance, given no Australian had ever legally broken the 10-second barrier on home soil prior to Kennedy’s run.
Only two men had done it before – the gold and silver medallists at the Sydney Olympics – Maurice Greene (9.88) and Ato Boldon (9.99).
Gout Gout, who isn’t racing in the 100m at the national titles, ran a heavily wind-assisted 9.96 last year, and Rohan Browning and Patrick Johnson also clocked sub-10s times with illegal tailwinds.
Gout came very close in February by running a 10.0 and Kennedy also clocked a 10-flat at the national titles in Perth last year.
The conditions in Sydney on Friday night were tailor-made for fast sprinting, however.
On a recently re-laid track at the Homebush venue, the warm, still weather saw Kennedy sizzle home in historic fashion.
Kennedy said he was “honoured to be the first” Australian to run a legal time under 10 seconds on home soil, and said he had Johnson’s record in his sights for the final on Saturday night.
“[I’m] Just happy. Honestly, I didn’t really even expect it. I was just super relaxed, it just felt easy, so I think I got a bit more in the tank,” Kennedy said.
“I think I’ve got so much more to give. This is still only my second hundred [this year]. I am honoured to be the first to do it. I’m sure we’ll have way more in the future. I’m certainly glad it was me.
“I don’t like to put a ceiling on what I can do, but I think I’ll definitely, hopefully, try and break that Aussie record tomorrow. But we’ll see.”
Kennedy said the run proved his sub-10 second time last year was no fluke.
“Doing it once is good, but doing it twice ... I want to make a bit of a pattern of it, you know? I want to make a routine. I want to make it up to standard,” he said.
Johnson’s record is under serious threat and the pace will also bode well for Kennedy in the third instalment of his 200m showdown with Gout on Sunday afternoon.
The 22-year-old from Brisbane has downed his hyped rival Gout over the 200m in the past two years, but was disqualified for the final at the national titles last year when Gout broke the 20-second barrier in Perth.
The sub-10 second run continues the impressive rise of Kennedy, who only took up sprinting seriously in his late teens after being scouted on a rugby field.
He announced himself on the world stage last year by winning silver in the 60m at the World Indoor Championships in China in March, and then proved he had a long game as well when he beat Gout over 200m at the Maurie Plant meet in Melbourne a week later.
Kennedy ran a 10-flat in a heat at nationals in Perth, but finished second to Browning in the final. A stress fracture saw him ruled out of the World Championships and ended Kennedy’s season, but he has returned strongly this year.
Kennedy’s camp was confident of running fast in Sydney after defying cold and wet conditions to run 10.03s at the Maurie Plant meeting in Melbourne two weeks ago.
Athletics Australian general manager of high performance Andrew Faichney said Kennedy’s injury last year may have been a blessing in disguise.
“In some ways, having that time out and then being able to build up, is probably going to be really advantageous for him over the course of his career, and certainly, we’ll see that this season,” Faichney said.
“His runs this year, his starts – it’s phenomenal. We saw that at the World Indoors last year, when he came second in his 60 metres, which was an unbelievable result for an Australian. And now he’s he’s pulling that out. We saw that in the 200 against Gout, but his hundreds have been phenomenal.
“The way we’ve seen him start this year, it’s been unbelievable.”
Kennedy’s coach Andrew Iselin said the sprint star’s historic run in Sydney was the result of lots of hard work.
“He’s just been in gradual sort of progression over the years,” he said.
“Even when we sort of saw him, before he even started training in high school, we knew there was something there.
“And it’s just been a slow sort of grind since then. It’s probably been a faster progression than most people would have thought. But it has been a nice sort of gradual process.”
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