More than 20 years have passed since Patrick Johnson etched his name in history as the only Australian to sprint 100 metres in under 10 seconds.
Clocking 9.93 seconds in 2003 in Mito, Japan, Johnson became a national icon. However, he is not clinging to the glory, he’s eager to pass the torch.
“Look, I was the first but I never wanted to be the last,”Patrick Johnson told Reuters.
In his 50s, Johnson is still Australia’s sprinting gold standard, though a fast-rising new generation is closing in.
Leading the charge is 21-year-old Lachlan Kennedy who stormed to a blistering 10.03 at the Perth Track Classic, tantalizingly close to Johnson’s record. He followed that up with a 6.50-second run in the 60m at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, good enough for second place. His surprise victory over teen sensation Gout Gout in the 200m at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne further cemented his status as a serious contender.
Rohan Browning, Australia’s Olympic sprint star who clocked 10.01 in Tokyo, will face Kennedy in a thrilling Perth showdown. Seventeen-year-old Gout Gout, who ran a wind-assisted 10.04 at the Schools Championships, will contest the under-20 100m event .
Emerging athletic talent is revitalizing Australian track and field, long overshadowed by cricket and AFL in national sports attention. The rivalries are drawing crowds not seen in decades. Over 10,000 fans filled Melbourne’s Lakeside Stadium for the Gout-Kennedy showdown, Australia’s first one-day athletics sell-out in 20 years.
The resurgence arrives on the heels of Australia’s best Olympic athletics performance since 1956, with seven medals collected in Paris. With Brisbane set to host the 2032 Olympics, renewed interest offers a chance to build lasting track and field legacy.
Johnson recalls his rivalry with Matt Shirvington, whose obsession with breaking 10 seconds included a “SUB-10S” license plate. Shirvington held the 10.03 national record for five years but never broke the barrier, retiring from sprinting in 2008.
Johnson knows better than anyone that the journey to a sub-10 performance is not just physical, it’s psychological.
“Expectations can be a millstone,” he noted.