| Profile | |
|---|---|
| Events | 100m, 200m T37 |
| DOB | 29/03/2001 |
| Coach | Adam McCann |
| Club | Athletics Nunawading |
| Teams | 2025 World Para Athletics Championship |
In his teens Liam Kernick’s favourite sport was AFL, but para sport still held some appeal.
“I was always interested in the idea of being a Paralympian, and going to the Paralympics, world champs etc, was something I was keen to want to do, but I really loved AFL, so I first tried playing junior footy (AFL) for a year, but I was getting a lot of head knocks and I thought I’d be better to commit fully to track and field instead (around age 16).”
From September 2021 to Mid-2023 Liam experienced a really rough time in the sport. “I had 7-8 hamstring injuries, two ankle sprains and a hip flexor injury over and over.” It resulted in him missing two whole seasons in a row.
In pursuit of selection for the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships, early last summer, he was under the Australian Athletics Developing standard of 12.50, clocking 12.24. Although he would clock a couple more qualifiers over summer, that time remained his PB. However statistically he was running quicker at the track classics, clocking 12.14 in Sydney with an illegal 2.2m/s wind and 12.43 in Melbourne, run into a 1.4m/s wind.
In July he was named for his Australian team debut in the T37 100m for the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi.
Interesting facts: I’m obsessed with all things Nintendo…Disability: I have right hemiplegic cerebral palsy. On my right hand side of my body, my muscles are weaker, smaller, tighter and the signals from my brain that tell my body to move, are interrupted and slower to my limbs on my right hand side. I struggle with many fi ne motor skills and go day-to-day being left handed with everything. It can’t do much, can really only support what my left hand is doing. In competition, my arm movements when sprinting are a little robotic and not as fl owy as an able bodied athlete, my right leg can’t produce as much power into the track as my left and in the starting blocks, I need my right hand curled up in a fist to comfortable set, because otherwise my wrist is stuck in a bent, uncomfortable position…Occupation: Personal Trainer…Hero: Dylan Alcott…Biggest Influence on career: My physio, Tim Jeans…Advice to your young self: Just keep running and the results will come…Other sports: Umpiring local AFL footy on weekends during the winter.
@ 22 Sept 2025 david.tarbotton@athletics.org.au
