Rohan Browning and Torrie Lewis upstaged the flashy upstarts of Australian sprinting, claiming their respective 100m national titles in two split-second victories in Perth on Saturday.
The women’s final was decided by a three-way photo finish between Lewis, Bree Rizzo and Leah O’Brien. The national record-holder stopped the clock at 11.24s, edging 17-year-old O’Brien by just four thousandths of a second, with Rizzo one hundredth of a second back.
Browning beat Lachie Kennedy in the men’s race by five thousandths of a second. Both were given a time of 10.01s, equalling Browning’s personal best from four years ago. It was a dramatic return to the summit of Australian sprinting by the 27-year-old.
His emerging rivals, 21-year-old Kennedy and 17-year-old Gout Gout – who chose to run the under-20 100m category in Perth rather than opens – have dominated the limelight in recent months as they near a legal sub-10 second performance.
Browning joked afterwards that his victory was “all about experience” and he wanted to remind the others “who their dad is”, but also reflected on his recovery from a knee injury that has hampered him since his 10.01s at the Tokyo Olympics.
“I knew not to get sucked into running Lachie’s race, because he’s going to get out well. I just had to focus on myself, and there might have only been a handful of people in the stadium tonight to believe that was possible, but you only need to believe in yourself,” he said, taking the opportunity to address doubts over his future that had rippled around the athletics community in recent years.
“There’s a lot of short memories in this sport, but I really couldn’t believe how many people came out of the woodwork to knock me last year, off the back of a really tough year,” Browning added. “But I’m fully healthy now, really confident in my knee and just really keen for the year ahead.”
Kennedy was just one hundredth of a second outside his personal best, set in his heat, but paid credit to Browning who caught him at the line. “I missed my start a bit, my transition wasn’t as good as what I liked it – but credit to Rohan, he ran a great race, he put his PB. It just goes to show the amount of talent we’ve got here in the sport sport right now.”
Lewis said her victory felt “amazing”, after she jumped into the air and performed a pirouette when the result was confirmed. A disappointing result in the 200m at the Maurie Plant meet two weeks ago – where she finished fifth – had given her cause for concern. “I’m so happy. After Maurie [Plant], I just did not want to run, like, ‘This is going to be horrible’,” she said. “But I’m just really glad I was able to find something.”
Rizzo dipped at the line but tumbled, leaving her shoulder grazed, and was edged out by O’Brien who has emerged as one of the stars of the meet. The teenager admitted afterwards she felt nervous before the race. “I’m so grateful to be here, because last year I came eighth in the final, or ninth actually, so to improve by that much is just insane,” she said.
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The Paris silver medallist Jess Hull held off Sarah Billings to win the 1500m, despite facing doubts through a race that lacked pace in the early stages. “I was like, ‘No, I just got to back my speed.’ My speed is better than I think it is, and I just had to hold my nerve out there,” Hull said afterwards.
18-year-old Cameron Myers held off Adam Spencer and Olli Hoare in the men’s event, with all three finishing within a second of each other. “I got to 500 to go, and I didn’t quite have the gap that I knew I probably needed to have,” Myers said. “Dick [Telford], my coach, said I’ve got to have a gap on the field by about two, three meters with 300 to go, because these guys can kick pretty hard. I knew I didn’t have that, but I was able to hold on.”
Ellie Beer and Cooper Sherman won the 400m titles, and Olivia Gross claimed the women’s pole vault in the absence of the Paris gold medallist Nina Kennedy, who missed the meet due to hamstring surgery.
The Australian athletics championships wrap up tomorrow with a busy daytime program including the 200m event, featuring Gout.