Olympic champion Nina Kennedy and sprint king Lachlan Kennedy will headline Saturday’s showtime at the 2026 Australian Athletics Championships, taking centre stage in Sydney where history awaits.
Despite the host of rising stars lighting up the Australian Athletics ranks, Kennedy (WA, James Fitzpatrick) holds the throne as the reigning Olympic champion who is cruising back to her best in 2026, chasing her fifth national title in the pole vault.
Winning last month’s Maurie Plant Meet – Melbourne with a 4.72m clearance despite a restricted run-up, Kennedy is poised to put her championship record of 4.75m on notice, with ambitions of threatening the five-metre barrier and adding another Commonwealth Games gold to her collection in Glasgow.
Sprinter Lachlan Kennedy (QLD, Andrew Iselin) is the white-hot favourite to be crowned Australia’s fastest man over 100m in tonight’s final after blazing through yesterday’s heats in 9.96 (+0.2) to become the first Australian man to break 10-seconds on home soil, but first he will have to topple defending champion Rohan Browning (NSW, Jack Edwards).
Browning turned the tables on the biggest stage in 2025, winning in 10.01 (+1.5) to leave Kennedy chasing his maiden Australian title – a feat that still eludes him.
“I thought objectively the heat had the best conditions, so I hit it harder than I normally would but not too hard as to where I would fry myself for the final,” Kennedy said.
“I want to go out there and win obviously, but I reckon I can go faster.”
Athletics fans are one race closer to finding out who will be crowned the Women’s 100m champion in 2026, with Georgia Harris (QLD, Paul Pearce) and Zara Hagan (QLD, Christopher Dale) the fastest qualifiers for tonight’s semi-finals.
Adding to the sprinting action will be a slew of Paralympic stars including Chad Perris (ACT, Matt Beckenham, T13) and Rhiannon Clarke (WA, Danny Kevan, T38), with the two-round competition demonstrating the depth of Australia’s Para-athletics ranks.
With the winner to be determined on the BASELINE system, Paralympic medallist Mali Lovell (NSW, Katie Edwards, T36) will be among the contenders, which include Commonwealth Games silver medallist Jaydon Page (ACT, Matt Beckenham, T47) who is enjoying a resurgence in 2026.
In the field, World Championships bronze medallist Mackenzie Little (NSW, Angus McEntyre) spearheads the Women’s Javelin Throw with her 66.27m personal best which places her in pole position for her fifth consecutive national title, ahead of World Championships teammate Lianna Davidson (NSW, Angus McEntyre) who has 63.79m credentials.
The middle-distance action will be led by a star-studded Men’s 5000m showdown featuring defending champion Seth O’Donnell (VIC, Andrew Russell) and Maurie Plant Meet – Melbourne 3000m champion Jackson Sharp (NSW), along with Cameron Myers (ACT, Dick Telford) and Jude Thomas (VIC, Collis Birmingham) who back up from the 1500m in which Myers won in record time.
The high-flyers are ready for takeoff as Olympian Yual Reath (VIC, Mike Barber) goes head-to-head with domestic rival Roman Anastasios (VIC, Sandro Bisetto) with 2.30m and 2.25m career-bests respectively, while Brandon Starc (NSW, Alex Stewart) is entered to compete for the first time this year.
Both the Men’s and Women’s 400m finals will be hard fought after a demanding round of heats yesterday, where Luke Van Ratingen (NSW, Ben Liddy) and Reece Holder (QLD, Christopher Dale) led qualification for the men, and Jemma Pollard (NSW, Tim Eschebach) and Alexia Loizou (VIC, Matt Carter) posted the fastest times for women.
Samuel Rizzo (VIC, Fred Periac, T54) and Sam Carter (ACT, Fred Periac, T54) will go head-to-head in the Men’s 800m Wheelchair, with Carter winning yesterday’s 100m and Rizzo dropping down from the longer distances. Carter holds the Australian record at 1:31.33.
Day Three of the 2026 Australian Athletics Championships will be broadcast on 7plus from 4:00pm – 7:00pm AEST, before switching to Channel 7 from 7:00pm – 9:00pm.
Full entry lists and timetables are available HERE.
By Lachlan Moorhouse, Australian Athletics
Posted 11/4/2026
