Written by RT Johno
Sometimes, lightning does actually strike twice.
Less than 24 hours after becoming the first Australian to break the 10-second barrier on home soil, Lachlan Kennedy backed it up with another 9.96 seconds to claim his maiden 100m national title at the 2026 Australian Athletics Championships in Sydney on 11 April.
The Paris 2024 Olympian matched his historic heat performance from the night before, this time converting it into a championship win that underlines just how dominant he has become at the top level of Australian sprinting.
Oceania champion Joshua Azzopardi of New South Wales finished second in 10.16, while defending national champion Rohan Browning — who edged Kennedy at last year’s championships — took third in a season’s best 10.19. The result marks a clear shift in the Australian sprint hierarchy, with Kennedy now firmly in command.
The win completes a remarkable back-to-back for the Queensland sprinter. On Friday night he made history by running 9.96 in the heats — the first sub-10 second performance ever recorded on Australian soil. Twenty-four hours later, he did it again in the final. Two runs under 10 seconds in two days, at the same meet, on home ground. It is the kind of sequence that announces a sprinter has arrived not just as a talent, but as a force.
Kennedy, who holds a personal best of 9.96 — now set twice — is building a profile that has the Australian athletics community excited well beyond the immediate moment. With the Olympic Games coming to Brisbane in 2032, he will be 28 years old and potentially at the peak of his powers. The national record of 9.93, held by Patrick Johnson since 2003, remains in his sights.
Men’s 100m Final Results
- 1st — Lachlan Kennedy (QLD) – 9.96 (CR, =PB)
- 2nd — Joshua Azzopardi (NSW) – 10.16
- 3rd — Rohan Browning (NSW) – 10.19 (SB)