After leaving rugby behind to burst on to the sprinting scene, Australia’s Lachie Kennedy talks to Cathal Dennehy about being a fast learner, jousting with Gout Gout and going for Commonwealth gold.
There’s simply one thing particular a few main 100m ultimate. No occasion in athletics has extra eyeballs on it. No self-discipline has as many large, daring personalities. No pre-race moments are loaded with extra pressure than these fraught seconds after the athletes are referred to as to their marks, a packed stadium descending into deathly silence.
“It’s thrilling,” says Lachlan Kennedy. “Nothing may even exchange it. It’s this indescribable feeling: adrenaline, pleasure, perhaps somewhat little bit of nerves. However I don’t assume I get nervous a lot. I simply get so pumped. I like the massive moments, I welcome the strain.”
The 22-year-old will expertise simply that on the upcoming Commonwealth Video games in Glasgow, the place he’ll be certainly one of Australia’s main hopes for a medal. Although his sights are set past solely that.
“I need to win,” he says. “I need to win each race I’m in, to be honest. However I actually need to win Comm Video games and I feel I can. I do know there are some cracking runners there and I’ll must run my greatest if I need to have an opportunity. However I welcome that. That’s the way it ought to be.”
Kennedy believes this will likely be a “actually, actually good” version of the Video games. “It’s going to be quick, intense,” he says. “Glasgow is a fortunate place to have it. It’s an excellent metropolis, it’s going to be an excellent vibe, and I’m very excited to run.”
His journey to that begin line, and his place among the many world’s high sprinters, started on a rugby pitch. Kennedy was born in south London, his household shifting to Australia when he was a toddler in 2006. He took up rugby there on the age of 5.
“I like group sports activities: the camaraderie, the brotherhood,” he says. “I went to a non-public boys’ college and taking part in there with my mates, they’re a few of my greatest reminiscences from sports activities. I wasn’t nice at most sports activities, however I used to be quicker than just about each child on the pitch.”
No shock, then, that he performed on the wing. “I used to be good with the ball in hand, however as quickly because the ball left my hand I used to be a little bit of a legal responsibility on defence,” he laughs. “I didn’t like tackling. I didn’t like getting tackled.”
Kennedy grew up in Brisbane and sprinted along with his college between the ages of 11 and 13 earlier than stepping away from athletics, including that he “thought it was a bit corny”. In his penultimate yr of highschool, his rugby coach satisfied him to check out for the college relay group, and Kennedy was additionally entered for the person 100m after clocking the quickest time in a trial. Juggling athletics and rugby throughout his ultimate yr, he lowered his 100m greatest to 10.5 and, after graduating, selected to give attention to sprinting.
The strongest a part of his race is the primary half, and Kennedy is aware of his rugby background is essential to that. “Acceleration might be extra necessary than high pace for many sports activities,” he says. “The fast burst and acceleration, I credit score quite a lot of that to [rugby].”
He’s had the identical teaching set-up since 2023, his profession guided by Andrew Iselin, with sometimes on the monitor three or 4 days per week and within the gymnasium thrice.
In 2024 he grew to become an Olympian in Paris, serving to Australia to an Oceanian file within the 4x100m. In 2025, he hit a brand new degree, equalling the Australian 60m file with a blazing out of doors clocking of 6.43 (1.6). On the World Indoors in Nanjing, China, he claimed his first international medal, working 6.50 to take 60m silver.
“2025 was a yr the place, each time I ran, a brand new alternative would current itself,” he says. “I used to be on a heater, on hearth. Swiftly, I used to be working towards a number of the greatest runners on the earth, working at Diamond Leagues, working towards world medallists, world champions.”
He dedicated to a number of races early within the out of doors season. Trying again, he reckons it was too many. After cracking 10 seconds for the primary time on the Kip Keino Basic in Nairobi throughout Could of final yr, working 9.98, a niggle he’d carried in his again worsened.
“I had that in February however I saved pushing by way of it – I simply can’t say no. I assumed everybody had a sore again, nobody ever runs at 100 per cent. I knew after World Relays, one thing wasn’t proper however [the pain] would go away. It’d heat up at coaching. However working correct races, actual quick, it obtained actual sore.”
Within the days after that Nairobi race, he was unable to stroll and underwent an MRI scan, which confirmed a stress fracture within the L4/L5 disc in his again. “It was simply an excessive amount of,” he says of his schedule. “One thing needed to go and it ended up being my again.”
Kennedy returned to racing on the Prefontaine Basic final July, clocking 10.07, then referred to as his season to a halt, lacking the Tokyo World Championships.
“It was positively disappointing not with the ability to run, I feel I’d have completed very well there,” he says. “We rehabbed it properly, made the good move to drag out. I in all probability might have run however I’d have been half-baked. It wouldn’t have been my greatest. We absolutely rehabbed it and I’m fairly certain it’s absolutely recovered now. I’m again higher than ever.”
With the teachings assimilated from 2025, he’s taken a brand new method this yr.
“My gymnasium is totally completely different to what it was, not a lot axial loading – weight compressing the backbone,” he says. “I’ve completed approach fewer races, too. We skipped the indoor season. I needed to hit the outside onerous. Subsequent yr we’ll in all probability do it otherwise once more and attempt to simply get higher yearly.”
On the Australian nationals in April, Kennedy powered to gold within the 100m in 9.96 (0.5m/s), whereas the 200m title went to Gout Gout – the 18-year-old smashing the Oceanian file with 19.67 (1.7m/s). The pair have twice raced over 100m, with Kennedy profitable each, and 5 occasions over 200m, with Kennedy forward 3-2 there.
“He’s an amazing athlete, with all of the potential on the earth,” Kennedy says of Gout, who’s attracting international, mainstream consideration after clips of him outclassing his teenage friends in Australia went viral.
“He has the mindset and the group round him to dwell as much as that potential,” provides Kennedy. “He’s an amazing competitor. I like working towards him. I had his quantity these final couple of races, it’s all the time good to get the win over him, however on the finish of the day I’d relatively see him succeed than fail, any day, as a result of if he’s doing properly it signifies that subsequent time I run, it’s extra eyes on me, extra eyes on our occasion.“It’s higher for Australian athletics, higher for the game usually. I want him nothing however the most effective.”
Each Kennedy and Gout will draw a lot of consideration within the years forward because the countdown begins to the 2032 Olympics, staged in Kennedy’s house metropolis of Brisbane. He will likely be 28 when the Video games roll round.
“It simply appears like good alignment, you couldn’t have written a greater story,” he says. “I’d have by no means stated as a child that I’d be a monitor and area athlete however, now that I’m, and it’s a Brisbane Olympic Video games, of all of the locations on the earth, it simply feels good and I’ll be an excellent age to compete. I’m clearly biased, however I feel it’s going to be the most effective one. Hopefully I can convey my greatest and compete properly there.”
A number of rivers to cross, in fact, earlier than he will get to that time. However Kennedy is on the fitting path. He feels extra at house nowadays on the massive stage, lining up among the many world’s quickest, figuring out he’s now certainly one of them.
“It feels pure,” he says. “I like working towards the most effective folks. It’s cool beating folks that have achieved all these wonderful issues.”The strain will likely be on in Glasgow, however Kennedy feels prepared for it.
“I like the massive moments, I welcome the strain,” he says. “It’s a privilege. I really feel at house once I’m lining up and I do know I’m not the favorite.
“I’m actually irritated each time I don’t win. Actually irritated. It’s what you prepare for, why you do all this low season work – to compete towards these guys. It’s thrilling while you don’t know who’s going to win. What’s higher than that?”
