Perth: Lachlan Kennedy couldn’t help but look at the clock. With 30 metres to go, he saw the time. It was fast. It dawned on him how fast he was going as he realised “Oh shit, I might actually get this” and break 10 seconds.
In the end he didn’t. He didn’t break 10 seconds for the 100 metres, but no one has, or could, go closer without breaking the coveted mark than he did. Kennedy ran 10 seconds flat. Bang on. Not one hundredth of a second either way.
The rivalry between Lachlan Kennedy (pictured) and Gout Gout has captivated Australian sport.Credit: Getty Images
Only one Australian male – Patrick Johnson – has ever run legally quicker.
On Thursday, Gout Gout twice broke 10 seconds, but he did it with an illegal tailwind. Kennedy had a legal wind (just +0.9 metres per second) but was one hundredth of a second slower than Gout’s 9.99-second times.
Kennedy and Gout both know it is only a matter of time before they both break 10 seconds, and that has created a secondary race between them to be the first one to do it.
“It feels pretty good,” Kennedy said of running 10 seconds flat and becoming the second-quickest Australian male ever.
“Hopefully I can be the quickest ever by the end of the weekend.
“Andrew [Iselin], my coach, was telling me to give it everything I’ve got because these are gonna be the best conditions, but I kind of want to save all my juices for the final. I want the final to be intense.
“I might have subconsciously shut off, I was staring at the clock with like 30 metres to go, and I was like, ‘Oh shit, I might actually get this’. But no, I think with the dip it was, it could have been nine, but I’ve got two more races to do that.”
If you needed verification beforehand that there was nothing between these two athletes, then this was it.
While only two Australian men – Johnson and Rohan Browning – had run under 10 seconds in any conditions before Gout joined them with his two 9.99-second runs on Thursday, now only Johnson has legally run quicker than Kennedy after his measured run in a heat of the national championships in Perth.
“I was super buzzing for him (Gout). I mean, he beat me to it (breaking 10) but I’m like, ‘I’m gonna try and do it legal’. But it was insane what he did – it’s so good,” Kennedy said.
“I know I’ll go sub-10 eventually, that’s just a matter of time. The race for the legal nine is so on. Sunday (in the 200m where Gout and Kennedy go head-to-head) is going to be incredible.
“I’m definitely going to be gunning for that too ... I plan to do the final.”
A race later and the old man of sprinting – at 27 – Rohan Browning continued his understated progression.
After two years with injury Browning, the Olympic semi-finalist in Tokyo, ran a sharp 10.07s with a tailwind that was just illegal (+2.1 where, +2 is legal).
“I hope I can delay the changing of the guard a little bit longer, but, you know, those guys are right there. Obviously Kennedy was the class guy today,” Browning said.
Being the only other man with Johnson to have run under 10 seconds in any conditions, Browning could relate to Gout’s efforts, if not his level of celebrity.
“I thought, ‘How do I get off my [social media] feed? I just have to turn my phone off’,” he laughed.
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