Previously, being the fastest Australian sprinter at any given period was like being the best fast bowler in Finland; the pool was not deep. That changed with the emergence of a young Rohan Browning, who impressed at world juniors and the Commonwealth Games, then made the semi-final at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Browning remains the quickest current sprinter in Australia over 100m and despite niggles in recent years is poised to return to the track this weekend in Queensland, though after the cyclone there those plans could be adrift.
With Browning, Josh Azzopardi having run a 10.09s, Gout’s 10.04 (with an illegal wind) and reigning national champion Seb Sultana 10.11s, Kennedy is matter of fact that he will break 10 seconds – and break Johnson’s national record. In fact, he will almost name the day it will happen.
“I think that is well within my reach, especially with the nationals being in Perth [in early April],” he said.
“I am going to go for it in the heat, semi and final. I will have three attempts at it and I think in one of those I should be able to definitely go sub (10s) and hopefully break the record.
“I am fairly confident – depending on the conditions and how the body is feeling and all that – but I am fairly confident. If I dipped a little more at the line, I could have had it [when he ran 10.03s]. If I can execute well, there is no reason why I couldn’t go sub. That would be massive, it would be cool.
“It never seemed realistic, I would always say it as a joke – I am going to go 9.9 this week, but now I can say it and it has some mass to it, got some weight to it.”
He’s confident he won’t be the only one.
“I was on the phone to Seb [Sultana] talking about this and we said if one of us goes 9.9-mid or 9.9-low the other person is definitely going 10 flat or 9.9 as well because we are all so close, no one is a stride ahead, we all push each other and we could all get it on any one day.
“There is so much quality now it’s not just one person who is super good, like when Rohan was coming through. Rohan was elite, he was so good. At nationals when he ran 10.02 I was in that race and he won by like a landslide. It’s not like that now.
“I think you are going to see that at these nationals. All the boys from the relay team plus Seb and Gout (who will only run the under-20 100m). There is quality everywhere. For the next two or three years, we will have multiple people going under 10. It’s just who does it first.
Teen sprint sensation Gout Gout.Credit: Eddie Jim
“In Perth there literally could be two or three of us break 10. We are all just such good competitors we all want to beat each other but we will help each other out and give each other tips.”
Like many sprinters, Kennedy, from Queensland, was a rugby player before he was drawn to track and field.
“He was skinny and unco with no muscle,” Iselin laughed. “He went through puberty and got strong and bigger.”
Kennedy demurs slightly – he wasn’t that skinny! However, he concedes he’s still uncoordinated, though he looks better running now.
“I played rugby all throughout school. It was probably my main thing, not track and field really. I am not taking many hits, not giving many hits, I was just taking the highlights [running with the ball].”
After graduating year 12, Kennedy devoted himself to athletics training and got a strength coach, Matt Crear. They quickly realised he had a physical edge.
Kennedy quarter-squats – that is, goes a quarter of the way down into a squat then surges upwards as fast and hard as he can – 300kgs. That 300 is not a typo.
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“At that age, most sprinters would be struggling to lift 16kg. He is so powerful he just drives up so explosively on the lift,” Iselin said.
Kennedy can do it fast. It is the reason he and Iselin nominated the 60m sprint as suiting his explosive power.
“The goal at the start of the season was to break the Australian record and I have been saying it since I heard the 60 was a thing that I thought the 60 was something I could be good at.”
Now he has his eye on the 100.
