Sprint sensation Lachlan Kennedy has again broken the 10-second barrier to win his maiden national 100m title and punch his ticket to the Commonwealth Games. The 22-year-old flaunted blistering pace to win Saturday's final in 9.96 seconds in legal conditions at the national championships at Sydney Olympic Park.
Josh Azzopardi ran 10.16 to be second, with last year's champion Rohan Browning trailing by 0.03 to finish third. Kennedy claimed his first national crown a day after also clocking 9.96 in his heat to become the first Australian to break the 10-second barrier legally for the 100m on home soil.
National record-holder Patrick Johnson is the only other Australian to achieve the sub-10s feat, running 9.93 in Mito, Japan, in 2003. 'Hopefully that's just the standard now, hey?' Kennedy said.
The electrifying performance means Kennedy is in doubt to run the 200m at the national championships against his friend and rival, Queensland's Gout Gout. Kennedy pipped Gout to complete a 100m-200m double for the second successive year at last month's Maurie Plant Meet.
'I can't give you a 100 per cent yes or no,' Kennedy said of the 200m. The Queenslander is out to shave his time to 9.8 this year as he eyes gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
