Easter Show fireworks can't stop Lachie Kennedy as star again cracks 10 seconds to claim 100m title

Royal Easter Show fireworks went off just as the finalists in the men's 100 metres at the Australian athletics championships on Saturday night were in the blocks and ready to launch.

Lachie Kennedy then produced fireworks of his own, sizzling down the straight of the newly re-laid, bright blue track at Sydney Olympic Park in 9.96 seconds to snare his maiden national title.

Those numbers, by the way, are no typo – the Brisbane sprint sensation indeed stopped the clock at 9.96 seconds for the second time in 24 hours.

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In the heats on Friday night, he clocked 9.96 seconds with a +0.2 metres-per-second wind at his back. In the final on Saturday night, he exploded down the straight with a +0.5m/s wind puffing behind him.

His run on Friday night saw him become the first Australian to break the iconic 10-second barrier in legal wind conditions on home soil.

To roll up and repeat the feat 24 hours later made one thing clear, if it wasn't already: breaking the 10-second barrier is no longer a major deal for this rising star. He's now making a habit of doing it, having done it on three occasions – the time in Kenya last year when he joined the sub-10 club and twice in Sydney in 24 hours.

And the two athletes he beat on Saturday night in his 9.96-second blitz, the second-placed Josh Azzopardi (10.16) and third-placed Rohan Browning (10.19), are fine sprinters in their own right.

"Hopefully that's just the standard now," Kennedy, 22, said of breaking the 10-second mark again.

"My coach [Andrew Iselin] and my team, shoutout to them, I wouldn't be here without them.

"That's just the standard we've set now. Hopefully next time we go a bit quicker than that, and we'll see where it takes us."

At the national titles in Perth last year, Browning beat Kennedy to the 100m title by .005 of a second.

Kennedy was elated, and relieved, to have settled the scores and claimed his first national crown.

"I needed to win," he said, smiling.

"I needed to be national champ, needed to say I had it.

"It's a big relief to be able to finally do it, [and] in front of an awesome crowd and against great competitors – my teammates in the relay.

"It's an honour and a big relief to finally say I did it."

At 8.50pm on each night of the Royal Easter Show, fireworks go off inside ENGIE Stadium next door, the home ground of the GWS Giants.

On Saturday night, they went off when Kennedy and co. were in the blocks waiting to hear the starter say "set".

The crowd gasped as one, and quiet laughter followed. A few moments later, the gun was fired and the crowd was roaring.

"Honestly, for me personally, I can't speak for everyone, but for me I just block all the noise out, just try and dial in," Kennedy said.

"Fireworks is definitely something different – it sort of sounds similar to the gun.

"But, I mean, you're just gonna make do at the end of the day. You can't control those things."

Prior to his 9.96-second run in the final, Kennedy clocked 10.05 in the semi-finals with a +0.6 wind at his back.

He said after the final that he may not back up for the 200m on Sunday, the final day of the championships.

He will see how his body is feeling in the morning before deciding whether to contest the longer sprint and take on teen phenom Gout Gout.

In the meantime, Gout v Kennedy III is up in the air — but as Kennedy said after clinching the 100m crown, for the time being he just wants to savour that sweet, sweet feeling.

Harris clinches women's 100m title

Georgia Harris, 21, won the women's 100m final in 11.50 seconds, ahead of Chloe Mannix-Power (11.52) and Ebony Lane (11.54).

The three medallists from last year's national championship final – Torrie Lewis, Leah O'Brien and Bree Rizzo – aren't competing this weekend.

O'Brien is injured, Rizzo is pregnant and the Netherlands-based Lewis remained in Europe to focus on training because of an injury-affected 2025, her camp told Wide World of Sports.

Myers magic

Prodigious distance runner Cameron Myers bagged a comprehensive victory in the men's 5000m final, pulling away on the final lap to win in 13:11.66, ahead of Seth O'Donnell (13:12.42) and Morgan McDonald (13:12.43).

The 19-year-old's win in the 5000m follows a crushing victory in the 1500m on Friday night.

Beer and Holder grab 400m titles

Ellie Beer and Reece Holder (beer holder?) took out the women's and men's 400m titles.

Beer won in 52.13 seconds, ahead of Mia Gross (52.71) and Alexia Loizou (52.80).

In the men's 400m final, Holder held on to win in 45.11 in a thrilling tussle with Luke van Ratingen (45.25) and Thomas Reynolds (45.69).