‘You feel like you’re floating’: Lachie Kennedy’s on cloud 9.98

How does it feel to break 10 seconds for 100m? You feel free, says Lachie Kennedy. Like you’re floating. Speaking to The Australian the day after his sensational 9.98sec, he said, “This is just the beginning.”

Australia's Lachlan Kennedy celebrates in Kenya after winning the 100m race and being the second Australian to break the 10 second barrier. Picture Instagram

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Lachie Kennedy was at A. He sought to reach B. Something special was afoot. His journey was swift. The clock stopped ticking at 9.98 seconds.

It was quite the feat on quite the pair of feet. Kennedy joined ­Patrick Johnson as the only Australians to have broken the elusive 10-second barrier. Johnson’s ­supernova sprint of 9.93sec came at Mito, Japan, in 2003. When Kennedy found sufficient speed to burn in the 100m final at the Kip Keino Classic at Nairobi, Kenya, igniting enough of it to take the gold medal while dipping under 10 seconds like it was a limbo bar, Johnson had company in a club so exclusive he’d been the only member for 22 years.

“This is just the beginning,” Kennedy told The Australian from Nairobi on Sunday night.

“When I look at the clock and saw a nine I was like, ‘Yes!’ But I knew this was coming, I wasn’t surprised at all. Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not downplaying it. I’m excited, I’m proud of it, it’s been my goal and it was pure joy. I’ve run nine … to be able to say that is a relief. But I honestly believe there’s more of this to come.”

It was the best performance by a Kennedy since Graham was on TV. Lachie was on cloud 9.98, visiting a safari park on Sunday.

“I felt relaxed, I felt chilled, and there’s nothing better than running when you’re in that frame of mind,” he said. “You feel free. You feel like you’re floating. I run better when it feels easy and I’m not forcing it. That’s how it felt. I was super relaxed. The crowd was elite but the track was a little bit dodgy. Just a bit beat-up. The best description I can gave you is … heaps of fun.”

Australian sprinting is looking good, after years of dawdling. Kennedy is in cahoots with the hottest young athlete in the country, teenager Gout Gout, who’s twice clocked 9.9sec only to have his times wiped from the books because of wind assistance, and Rohan Browning, whose personal best of 10.01sec isn’t shabby either.

Lachlan Kennedy is in cahoots with the hottest young athlete in the country, teenager Gout Gout. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Kennedy, the 21-year-old Queenslander, was in lane four at Nairobi. The type 1 diabetic’s blood sugars must have been just right. He nearly went as fast as Oscar Piastri’s McLaren. He didn’t display the effortless, mesmerising, born-to-run grace of Gout, nor Johnson’s blow-your-socks-off power, simply barrelling from A to B like a ball of muscle carrying unstoppable momentum. It was no mean feat, on no mean feet, and the wonder of the accomplishment is this: once you’ve run in the nines, no-one can ever take it from you.

“I know, right? Even a 10-zero-zero, that’s nothing like running in the nines,” Kennedy said. “It’s a prestigious club and I’m very, very honoured and happy to say I’ve done it. I’ll do it a bunch more times. There’s so much depth and talent in Australian athletics, it’s really on a heater right now. There’s such a great culture. It’s super competitive while being super friendly and I mean, it’s a golden age and I’m so happy to be a part of it. Happy to play a role in the rise of athletics. Patrick is an absolute inspiration … I’m gunning for his record but it’s an absolute honour to have joined him.”

Australia's Lachlan Kennedy, right, charges to the finish line ahead of South Africa's Bayanda Walaza, second from right, and Kenya's Ferdinand Omanyala, second left, who came second and third respectively, during the men's 100m event at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi. Picture: Tony Karumba/AFP

Kennedy and Gout both have eyes for Johnson’s record. “I think it’s a matter of time (until we reach it) if we both stay healthy,” Kennedy said. “We’re going to keep pushing each other even further. I’m not going to get any slower. I assume he’s not going to get any slower. I’m getting better every year, he’ll get better every year. We’re only just beginning. I have so much improvement in me. Every training, every gym session, every race, I’m learning something new. It’s actually insane how many things I still have to work on. So it feels good to go under 10 already.”

The Brisbane bullet’s breakthrough performance was beating Gout in the 200m final in front of a packed house at Melbourne’s Maurie Plant Meet in March. His cannonball run at Nairobi didn’t quite remove him from Gout’s shadow, because that’s one giant area of shade, but Kennedy brilliantly shone a light on his own prowess. When you go under 10 seconds, you’re no longer under the radar. From up there on cloud 9.98, he reckons the sky’s the limit.

“It’s definitely surreal and hasn’t quite sunk in yet,” he said. “I feel privileged and proud and happy and I know what a big deal it is to break 10 seconds, but I’m not just here to run 9.9s, you know what I mean? I want to go lower and I will go lower. I expect to be going faster very soon. We’re only just getting started.”