‘Quite special’: Sebastian Sultana is going from strength to strength

Sebastian Sultana is the future and the present of Australia’s athletics team with the 18-year-old continuing to impress with strong performances on his lead into a debut Olympic Games.

Sebastian Sultana headed to the national championships in April looking to improve on his breakthrough season in the junior ranks.

What he wasn’t expecting was for his life to change forever over the next two months.

The 18-year-old upstaged Australia’s fastest man Rohan Browning to win the national title in Adelaide and then three weeks later found himself in the Bahamas as part of Australia’s 4x100m relay team which qualified for the Paris Olympics.

“It’s been pretty amazing,” Sultana says. “I didn’t really expect it to be honest.”

In fact Sultana, who in 2022 broke the Australian under-18 record, never once considered Paris to be his Olympics, he had his sights set on Los Angeles in 2028.

“In my head I was getting ready for the next one, to be ready for this one is quite special,” he said.

How good can Sebastian Sultana be? Picture: Michael Klein

Sultana booked his ticket to Paris alongside Jacob Despard, Calab Law and Joshua Azzopardi at the World Relay Championships, joining Australia’s 4x100m women’s team on the plane.

It’s been a sudden rise for the teenager from Sydney’s western suburbs who only started looking at sprinting as a career when it became obvious at school that he had something special.

Sebastian Sultana on his way to easily winning his heat. Picture: Michael Klein

“I was always the quickest in my class so I thought I’d give it a try,” he said. “My idol was Usain Bolt but I think everyone says that.

“I’ve just been working hard and I think it’s the consistency in training which has been the reason (for the improvement).”

Sultana is preparing for another showdown with Browning in the 100m final at the Oceania Championships in Fiji on Wednesday.

Browning, who has recovered from a knee niggle which impacted his domestic season, has made the trip to the Pacific Island to gain valuable ranking points to ensure his place in the Paris Olympics.

The women’s 100m will be a showdown of relay team members, Ella Connolly and Ebony Lane, plus reigning national champion Naa Anang. Teenage star Torrie Lewis is focusing on the 200m.

Originally published as ‘Quite special’: Sebastian Sultana is going from strength to strength