Australia’s fastest athletes brought fire to Day Three of the Australian Open and Under 20 Athletics Championships, as Rohan Browning announced his return to peak form to claim the Men’s 100m crown while Australia’s fastest woman Torrie Lewis came out on top in a fierce three-way finish.
Olympic semi-finalist Rohan Browning (NSW, Andrew Murphy) reminded the country why he has long been touted Australia’s sprint king, returning to form with an equal personal best of 10.01 (0.001) to take down the white-hot Lachlan Kennedy (QLD, Andrew Iselin) in 10.01 (.006) with a legal wind of +1.5m/s.
With all the craze surrounding the 10-second barrier, it was racing in its purest form that saw Browning reassert himself on top of the podium – timing his run for the Australian title to perfection.
“I just had to focus on myself. And, you know, there might have only been a handful of people in the stadium tonight that believed that was possible but it shows you only need to believe in yourself,” Browning said.
“I came to Perth looking to run a qualifier and a sub-10, and neither of those happened but at the end of the day, it’s a Championship and all you need to do is win.
“I had all the training data to suggest that I’m in the best shape of my life but I hadn’t showcased that to anybody. I wanted to come out and remind these guys who their Dad is!”
The Women’s 100m was even closer as just four-thousandths of a second determined Australia’s fastest woman, as national record holder Lewis (QLD, Laurent Meuwly) made her title official with a win over teenage bolter Leah O’Brien (WA, Braiden Clarke) – clocking 11.24 (.236) to 11.24 (.240) with a tailwind of +0.9m/s.
The stadium held its breath as the photo finish was examined after a blanket finish for the podium, with Lewis crowned the winner in a final for the ages that cemented the nation’s sprinting rise, with Bree Rizzo (QLD, Ryan Hoffman) claiming bronze in 11.25.
“I’m so happy because after Maurie (Plant Meet), I was just like, I do not want to run, this is going to be horrible. I’m just really glad I was able to find something and get another 100m title under my belt,” Lewis said.
“To have a 17-year-old running second, that was amazing. She said she’d run eight races already before this, so she’s run so well in these Championships. I’m just so happy to be able to win a race as exciting as that.”
The sprinting history rolled on in the Para ranks as national records tumbled and clutch qualifiers were punched to the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships to be held in New Delhi, India this September.
Paralympic medallist Mali Lovell (NSW, Katie Edwards, T36) bolted to a 14.24 (+1.6) performance in the 100m heats to eclipse her own national record, as Nathan Jason (QLD, Vincent Jason, T12) clocked a career-best 11.16 (+1.5) to also snatch an Australian record.
The finals action saw Rhiannon Clarke (WA, Danny Kevan, T38) crowned Australian champion in a time of 12.76 (+2.1) with a BASELINE score of 97.02, taking an impressive win over Paralympic gold medallist Anna Grimaldi (NZ, T47).
Australia’s world-class middle-distance stocks delivered a pair of instant classics over 1500m as Olympic silver medallist Jessica Hull (NSW, Simon Hull) and world Under 20 record holder Cameron Myers (ACT, Dick Telford) dug deep for national glory.
After a pedestrian start, Hull was forced to fight for every metre in an eventful final lap as Sarah Billings (VIC, Nic Bideau) pushed her to the line, with Hull prevailing in 4:11.36 to Billings’ 4:11.51, while Georgia Griffith (VIC, Nic Bideau) trailed for bronze.
“When you go from a little bit further than 400 (metres) to go, you just really have people asking questions of themselves, it’s a long way to sprint. I wanted to make people either commit or run for second and at the top of the straight, I heard Dad say I had to use my gears,” Hull said.
“I just had to hold my nerve. I’ve got so much experience that I just backed myself to be the most composed among the tension in that pack, because it was so tense.”
The 18-year-old Myers won in the toughest fashion possible, front-running his rivals into the ground to win in a time of 3:34.39, defeating defending champion Adam Spencer (VIC, Mick Byrne) in 3:34.57 and Commonwealth champion Oliver Hoare (NSW, Dathan Ritzenhein) in 3:34.61.
World Championships bronze medallist Mackenzie Little (NSW, Angus McEntyre) opened the Women’s Javelin Throw with a 59.17m effort and never looked back when sailing to the Australian title, while Desleigh Owusu (NSW, Andrew Murphy) leapt to another personal best of 13.75m (+1.5) for a big win in the Women’s Triple Jump.
Australian record holder Brandon Starc (NSW, Alex Stewart) returned to the top of the podium after a jump-off with Yual Reath (QLD, Mike Barber), after the pair were locked after three misses at 2.23m. The finish between the Olympic duo saw the bar lowered to 2.21m where Starc cleared on first attempt, with Reath unable to go up and over – ultimately settling for silver.
Ellie Beer (QLD, Brett Robinson) earned the coveted three-peat in the race around a lap of the track, as the two-time Olympian at the age of 22 roared across the finish line in 51.42 for another dominant victory, while Cooper Sherman (VIC, Neville Down) timed his all-time best for the final clocking 45.26.
The next generation impressed in both events, with 18-year-old Stawell Gift winner Bella Pasquali (VIC, Jason Boulton) continuing her momentum with a personal best of 51.42, and 17-year-old Terrell Thorne (QLD, Chris Dale) winning his maiden Open medal with a personal best of 45.54.
Dual World Under 20 medallist Delta Amidzovski (NSW, Becky Amidzovski) flexed her form in the Under 20 Women’s 100m Hurdles with a dominant win in 13.09 (+3.2), while local talent Aden McDonald (WA) harnessed the windy conditions to leap to a stunning 7.71m (+2.6) to take down Queensland’s Liam Deavin (QLD) with 7.47 (+3.0).
It’s been a sprinter’s paradise all championships and the Western Australian duo of Josiah John (Asad Hosseini) and 14-year-old Emilia Reed (Aaron Bresland) capped off the state’s junior sprinting success, taking out the Australian Under 20 titles over 200m in times of 20.74 (+2.2) and 23.29 (+1.2) respectively.
The Australian Athletics Championships returns to WA Athletics Stadium tomorrow, with the final day of the Chemist Warehouse Summer Series commencing at 9am AWST, with the meet streamed live and free on 7plus.
The meet is supported by the Western Australian Government through Tourism WA, as well as VenueWest and Athletics West.
Full results from today can be found HERE.
By Lachlan Moorhouse and Sascha Ryner, Australian Athletics
Posted 12/4/2025
