Patrick Johnson’s message to Kennedy after 100m record shattered

Patrick Johnson had a big smile on his face as he watched Lachlan Kennedy break his long-standing Australian 100-metre record from his home in Cairns just after 6am on Wednesday.

Proud, delighted and even relieved, he sent Kennedy a message, sharing some special words with the young sprint phenom after his 9.85-second run for silver at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

“I sent a message to Lachie and congratulated him. I told him, ‘Look, you’ve now etched your name into Australian sporting history and world sprinting’,” Johnson told nine.com.au.

“Which is what we’ve always wanted to do from an Australian perspective: match it with the best in the world.”

In Mito, Japan on May 5, 2003, Johnson scorched through a 100m race in 9.93 seconds to pinch the Australian record off Matt Shirvington.

Twenty-three years on, Kennedy sizzled through the 100m final at the Glasgow Games in 9.85 seconds to take the record from Johnson.

The 22-year-old, who finished second to Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme (9.83), became the first Australian man to win a Commonwealth Games sprint medal since Michael Cleary snared bronze in 1962.

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He had been stalking Johnson’s record for 14 months, ever since clocking 9.98 in Kenya in May last year to become just the second Australian in history to crack the iconic 10-second barrier, behind “PJ”.

“For me, it was just great, and probably a bit of a relief, to be honest,” Johnson said of Kennedy knocking off his record.

“I sometimes looked back and asked myself, ‘Has it really been that long?’

“Records are meant to be broken. I’ve held my breath for 23 years waiting for the next generation to break mine. Not because I wanted to lose it, but because I wanted to see Australian sprinting move forward.

“Records mark a moment in history, like when I went sub-10, but their legacy is to inspire the next generation. I was honoured to carry that baton for 23 years, and today I’m proud to pass it on to Lachie and the next generation. You want standards to be broken so young athletes believe they can do even more.

“I was up in Cairns watching with a big smile on my face. In my head, I was passing over the baton.

“Records aren’t monuments; they are milestones showing how far we’ve come.”

What did Johnson mean by Kennedy’s record bringing him relief?

“It’s a sense of pride in seeing the next generation go beyond what we set,” he explained.

“It’s bigger than a record – it’s about passing down belief, standards and ambition. We all stand on the shoulders of those before us, but it’s about what the next generation does with that foundation.

“When I was running, we didn’t have social media. Today, a young athlete watching on a screen, or from the stands, saw Lachie and said, ‘One day, that could be me’. That quiet voice of belief is what this is all about.”

Nowadays, Johnson is the culture and safety advisor at Sport Integrity Australia, a Brisbane 2032 organising committee board director, and the chair of the Australian Olympic Committee’s Indigenous advisory committee.

“I held that record for a long time but I’m stoked to hand it over,” he added.

In 2027, Kennedy will suit up in Beijing at the world athletics championships.

Beyond that, he’s eyeing off the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and an Olympics in Brisbane, the sprint king’s stomping ground, in 2032.

But first thing’s first: having a crack at the 200m in Glasgow, beginning on Wednesday night (AEST).

“The world is open to him now,” Johnson said.

“Before, he was teasing sub-10, but executing a 9.8-second run at a major championship puts him in an elite threshold. Very few people in the world can run 9.8.

“Every hundredth of a second in sprinting places you in a new realm.”

Twenty-odd minutes after Kennedy’s historic run, Australia’s Torrie Lewis loaded into the blocks for the women’s 100m final.

The 21-year-old scored bronze. She also lowered her Australian record for the third time in a week, clocking 10.99.

Kennedy. Lewis. Gout Gout. Eddie Nketia. Aidan Murphy. Charlotte Ehioghae.

The future of Australian sprinting is looking blindingly bright.

“It wasn’t about my record or it falling today; it was more about how Australian athletics is rising and the talent coming through,” Johnson said.

“Australia has always had one or two standout sprinters, but now we have a real swell of talent pushing each other.

“It brings me immense joy.”