Lachlan Kennedy makes Aussie sprint history at the world indoor athletics championships

Australia’s fastest man this year Lachlan Kennedy has emerged from Gout Gout’s shadow to claim an important piece of history, with a silver medal at the world indoor championships in China.

Lachlan Kennedy claimed Australia’s first medal in the men’s 60m final. Picture: Getty Images

Australia’s fastest man this year Lachlan Kennedy has claimed an important piece of history, storming to a silver medal at the world indoor championships in China.

The 21-year-old Queenslander, who has lived in the shadow of Gout Gout’s recent rise to prominence, is the first Australian to medal in the 60m event.

Kennedy broke the Australian 60m record in January and proved he has what it takes on the world stage by clocking 6.50sec to miss the gold medal by just one-hundredth of a second to Great Britain’s Jeremiah Azu.

It was the first time Kennedy had competed indoors and from lane two he looked to have clinched gold - even the commentators went for the Aussie - but unfortunately missed by the narrowest of margins.

Lachlan Kennedy alongside the USA’s Ronnie Baker in the men’s 60m. Picture: Getty Images

“I know I can do so much more, this is only the beginning. I’m a bit upset I didn’t win, but I definitely got the next best thing,” Kennedy said.

“Racing three events, with eight hours in between them was weird for me, but in the heat I stumbled and almost fell over after crossing the finish line.

“When I got to the semis, I was hesitant and tensed up a bit and then I thought, if I fall over in the final, I fall over and I just went for it.”

How close Australian sprint sensation Lachlan Kennedy came to winning the 60m final. Picture: X

Kennedy is part of a sprinting revolutionary in Australia and clocked a career-best 10.03sec in Perth earlier this month.

He will now turn his attention to running the 100m at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne next Saturday with going under the magical 10 second barrier firmly at the front of his mind.

“This season has been my favourite so far,” Kennedy said. “There’s so much more to do and more to come. I definitely want to go sub-10 in the 100m, that’s my goal for this season.

“And then I want to break the Australian record (of 9,93sec). It’s well within reach for me to do it at the Maurie Plant Meet or Nationals.”

Kennedy and Gout, who ran a wind-assisted 10.04sec in December, won’t clash until the Stawell Gift on Easter Monday.

Second-placed Lachlan Kennedycelebrates after claiming silver in the Men's 60m Final at the World Athletics Indoor Championships. Picture: Getty Images

Gout, 17, will focus on the 200m at the Maurie Plant Meet and the national championships in Perth next month. He won’t run in the senior 100m there, preferring to chase the U/20 100m record.

In other results at the indoor championships, Kennedy’s Paris Olympic relay teammate Josh Azzopardi narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 60m semi-finals.

Victorian Georgia Griffith (4min09.78sec) booked a spot in the 1500m final with an aggressive heat run while Commonwealth champion Ollie Hoare (3min42.29sec) was unlucky not to progress to the final, missing a qualifying spot by just 0.08sec.

Copper Sherman’s Australian team debut ended with a promising fifth in the 400m semi-finals (47.67sec) while Sarah Billings and Abbey Caldwell both failed to progress out of the heats of the 800m.

Originally published as Lachlan Kennedy makes Aussie sprint history at the world indoor athletics championships