Sally Pearson: Teammate’s ‘unfair’ remark as Rohan Browning faces awkward Paris Olympics dilemma

Rohan Browning is Australia’s most recognised sprinter but he faces missing out on our relay team for the Paris Olympics.

COMMENT

Rohan Browning, our second fastest sprinter in Australian history, may miss out on a relay spot at the Paris Olympics.

Two months ago the men’s 4x100m relay team qualified for the Olympics at the World Relay Championships in the Bahamas.

It’s the first time an Australian men’s relay team has qualified for the Olympics since 2012 - but our nation’s second fastest 100m sprinter in history was nowhere to be seen.

Browning was nursing an injured knee at the time and wasn’t able to compete in the Bahamas with the rest of the team.

However it wasn’t the fact that the men’s team qualified for the 4x100m that made headlines after the race, instead it was the comments made from relay team member Josh Azzopardi.

“This team got us to the Olympics, so then hopefully the selectors and coaches reward us with that Olympic run, I think it’s a high chance (the team will remain the same for the Paris Games).

“We obviously have Rohan Browning who isn’t here (in The Bahamas). He’s been a bit out of shape recently”

These statements made by Azzopardi at the time were honest but also unfair to Browning given he was injured at the time.

Rohan Browning (R) hasn’t reached the speeds of relay teammates Joshua Azzopardi (middle) and Sebastian Sultana (L) this year. Pic: Michael Klein

If the Olympics began straight after these statements were made, there’s no way Browning would be picked.

However the Olympics were months away when the comments were made, and in fact even now Browning still has weeks to get his body in shape and even run the race of his life before the athletics events kick off in Paris in August.

World Athletics rules dictate that an athlete who qualifies for the 100m sprint at the Olympics must also be a part of the top five members of the relay team.

Browning, who only just scraped through to qualify for the 100m sprint in Paris on quota position, making position 54 out of a possible 56, will certainly be in the five-man team for Australia.

Although he could still miss out on a relay run if the head coach decides he’s not fast enough to be a part of the top four who race on the day.

At 26, Browning could be considered to be almost a veteran of the team, he’s made every Australian athletics team since 2017, which was at the World Championships in London.

Rohan Browning has been battling injury in 2024. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

There he raced in the 4x100m relay where the team placed seventh in their heat with a time of 38.88sec, not much slower than the team that qualified for Paris with a time of 38.46sec.

Does his years of experience mean he’s worthy of a spot in Australia’s top four?

The 4x100m relay is a sprint event, the fastest at the time surely have to be picked.

Is Rohan the fastest this year? No.

But he does have time to build his speed before the 100m heats start on August 3 and the relay events kick off five days later on August 8.

I spoke to the coach of the men’s 4x100 relay team in Paris, David Reid, and asked him what his thoughts were on the comments made by Azzopardi and Rohan’s chances are of being selected in the top four.

“The boys want the best team to run,” Reid told me.

“Allegedly, those comments (from Azzopardi) were taken out of context.

“I understand the excitement (in qualifying for the Olympics) but it’s not up to the boys (to select the team).”

Picking a relay team can be tricky, there are so many elements to it.

It is highly technical, highly emotional and you have four athletes that are responsible for getting the baton around the track.

Australian sprinter Joshua Azzopardi essentially called for Browning to miss out on the relay team. Pic: Michael Klein

Rohan Browning was a dominant force at the Tokyo Olympics. Picture: Alex Coppel. .

I asked David, how do you know who to pick for the final team?

“The team at the world relays. That would be the basis to start off,” Reid said.

“The athletes that ran there, they should expect to be the ones who race”.

While Reid didn’t comment on Rohan’s eligibility, he explained: “we look at everything when picking the relay team, people that you can rely on.”

He also mentioned that unfortunately it is possible that, “someone will be hurt” by the time the Olympics kick off.

In my personal view, if the coaches this year want to pick the fastest four for the relay team, then surely a run-off, where all members of the team race against each other, would be the only way to decide.

Then comes the question, would Rohan participate in this run-off and potential jeopardise his preparation for the individual 100m race?

Alternatively would the coaches use Rohan’s 100m results in Paris to help them decide the make-up of the relay team?

If it were my decision, I would certainly be using Browning’s results in his individual event to make my decision. It’s a perfect way to see if an athlete is in shape.

Sally Pearson is Australia's greatest modern-day track and field athlete. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)

If the coaches take experience and “someone they can rely on” into consideration, they might look at one moment that wasn’t the most successful for Rohan, what he calls his “embarrassing” moment.

In the 4x100m relay at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games Browning tripped and fell on the final leg.

He’s never shied away from that moment and has been open and honest about his thoughts on that misstep (pardon the pun)

He stated “it’s moments like that, that make you robust, they make you stoic”.

I’m not sure those comments will have any impact on the final decision, but if that incident is something that gives him hope and inspiration then I’m all for it.

While Browning was “sympathetic” to Azzopardi’s comments he said “he wants a chance to prove his case”.

Jack Hale of Australia consoles team Rohan Browning after Browning stumbled and fell at the baton change in 2022. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

I think Rohan has every right to try and prove his case to make the relay team and I believe that the best way he can do that is in his individual 100m events up against the fastest males in the world.

Azzopardi is the only other male sprinter from Australia who will get that chance to run the individual 100m event after he secured a late quota this week.

If I was a relay coach and had a question mark over one of the members of the team, I would be saying to them, prove yourself in this 100m race, if you can come away with a time that is faster than any of the other team members this season then you’ve got a very high chance of being selected.

The Australian men’s 4x100m relay team will mostly likely be named on August 6, 48 hours before the relay event starts in Paris.

Finger crossed to all the boys who get selected, but for Australia, let’s hope we get to see “The Flying Mullet” race in the relay team again.

Sally Pearson won gold at the 2012 Olympics in the 100 metres hurdle. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

‘Something I was so proud of’

In 2003 I was a 16-year-old rookie selected to be on the women’s 4x100m team at the world championship, ironically also in Paris.

I had just come off a win at the world under-18 championships in the hurdles a month earlier and I was eager to get to Paris to prove myself against the best in the world.

The coaches had trouble deciding who would be the final four to race on the day.

They decided to do a run off over 100m. I was by far the youngest in the team but in my head, I was the most competitive.

I was so ready to show the coaches that they had to pick me.

I won the run off and was picked to be the anchor of the relay. Something I was so proud of.

- Sally Pearson is an Olympic gold medallist and one of Australia’s greatest ever track and field athletes. She is writing exclusively with news.com.au ahead of the Paris Olympics