Australia’s fastest man makes bold call in bid for history
Updated . First published at
Lachlan Kennedy has made a bold call in the race to shatter Patrick Johnson’s long-standing 100-metre Australian record, declaring if he’s beaten to breaking it he will simply knock off the new mark.
The coach of Eddie Nketia fired a warning back, declaring “The Incredible Hulk”, as he likes to call him, is capable of clocking 9.85 seconds in the coming weeks.
Australian sprint powerhouse Lachlan Kennedy. Getty
Johnson clocked 9.93 seconds in Japan in 2003 to pinch the national record off Olympic and Commonwealth Games teammate Matt Shirvington.
No athlete has gone closer to erasing Johnson’s record than Kennedy, who put down two wind-legal 9.96-second runs at the national athletics championships in Sydney in April.
Nketia has had a barnstorming start to his time as an Australian athlete since defecting from New Zealand in December, rattling off a 9.84, a 9.74, a 9.95 and a 9.99 – but on each occasion the wind reading was too strong to be legal.
The race to take down Johnson’s record is realistically a race in three, between Kennedy, Nketia and 18-year-old sensation Gout Gout.
The teen phenom twice ran 9.99 at the national titles in Perth last year but in illegal wind conditions.
“I feel like it’s always a bit competitive to see who’s going to break it first,” Kennedy told nine.com.au.
“But at the end of the day, I’m just gonna break it by more. If someone beats me to it, that’s fine – I’ll just break it again. I’m not stressed.”
Kennedy will get his next crack at Johnson’s record when he suits up at the prestigious Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon on July 5 (AEST).
The 22-year-old will then race a 200m at the Hungarian Grand Prix in mid-July, and possibly a 100m at the London Diamond League four days later, before tackling the 100m and 200m at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Nketia will run one or two 100m races ahead of the Commonwealth Games, then contest the 100m in Scotland.
Eddie Nketia running for the University of Southern California. University of Southern California.
Gout is scheduled to run a series of 200m races in the coming weeks but no 100m races.
He will miss the Commonwealth Games to focus on winning gold in the 200m at the world under-20 championships in Oregon.
“I think it’s me versus the clock at the end of the day,” Kennedy added.
“That’s how I think about it, at least.”
Kennedy and Nketia are both eyeing off 9.8 territory.
“The goal was to go 9.8 at some point this year and I am more than confident that’s still on the cards,” Kennedy said.
“Hopefully in my next 100m I can do that. Body feels good.
“Running 9.7 would be the dream. I’ve got plenty of time in my career to move on that.”
Nketia has been making headlines on the NCAA scene, running for the University of Southern California.
“When he’s hot, he’s hot,” the 25-year-old’s coach, Brenton Emmanuel, told nine.com.au.
“He’s not fully peaked yet this year and he’s not burnt out. He still has some juice in his legs, especially because he’s running faster in the 200m, which tells me his strength and speed are really good.
“We’ve got about another six weeks of it before he needs to shut it down, but he has a 9.85 in those legs.”
When told of Kennedy’s bold call, Nketia’s coach loved what he heard.
“I think that’s great for track and field ... Iron sharpens iron. That’s a great rivalry for the future of those guys,” Emmanuel said.
“It’s nothing personal; it’s just being a highly competitive athlete. Any coach wants their athlete to say what Lachlan said, and I would say the same thing. If Lachlan beats the record, I want Eddie to go beat that time.
“Eddie is going to make you guys very proud, and I hope Lachlan continues to do well, too.”
