When Perth’s Leah O’Brien broke Raelene Boyle’s 57-year-old U18 100m record in a time of 11.14 in April last year at the Australian Athletics Championships, the world was at the young sprinter’s feet.
That run and her results led to selection as a reserve runner on the Australian team for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last September, and she was ecstatic at making her first major seniors’ team.
But cruelly injury struck her down in the later part of the year, with O’Brien (WA, Braiden Clarke) fracturing her back and it’s only now she has started running with spikes again.
O’Brien, 18, is determined to come back and even better and more successful sprinter as she continues her comeback.
She has been named on the 4x100m relay team for the World Athletics U20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon in the USA, and she couldn’t stop smiling when talking about being on another Australian team again.
The success – and then the injury – has given her a fresh perspective and has made her hungrier than ever.
“I’m really excited to be back, as last year was a tough year for me,” she said.
“I’m just grateful to be back running and so happy to be on another Australian team.
“I had a really good season last year, coming of Nationals, breaking the record.
“I signed to Nike, I committed to a College in the US and a lot of great things were happening but I fortunately fractured my back.
“I had to recover from that.”
O’Brien has been watching closely another young Australian sprinter who has come back from a similar injury this year with great success, Lachlan Kennedy.
Watching Kennedy run like he has this year has given her inspiration that all the hard work and recovery will ultimately be worth it.
“Watching Lachie do even doing better now has given me more confidence to get back to where I was and become and even better runner,” she said.
O’Brien is also looking back at that record breaking run last year as motivation to get back to her best.
“For me now it’s all about seeing how I can better myself,” she said.
“There is no other feeling compared to winning or breaking a record.
“It kind of proves that anything you put you mind to, if you work hard, you can achieve it.
“When you do achieve our goals, it shows that all the hard work is worth it.”
When she did finally hit the track for the first time in months recently, the feeling it gave her made all the hours and hours of recovery off the track including in the gym, worth it.
“I was so happy when I was back running on the track for the first time,” she said.
“I was smiling to myself.
“I was probably running really slow, but when I ran across the finish line for the first time it was such a great feeling.”
O’Brien joined the 75 strong Australian Team on the Gold Coast recently for the official pre Championships camp.
It was a chance for the Team to bond before heading to Santa Barbara in late July for a training camp before heading to Eugene for the main event that kicks off on August 5.
She was able to give her teammates her perspective on what it’s like to be part of a team at a huge event, like a World Championships in athletics.
“I was pretty nervous being that young and not having a lot of experience, you kind of wonder if you deserve to be in the team,” she said.
“But you absolutely do.”
Her advice is to enjoy every moment, get behind your teammates, support each other, and work together.
“Going to the Worlds last year was probably the best trip I’ve ever been on, it was such a great experience,” she said.
“I was the youngest on the team, and my spot was as a reserve.
“I loved it.
“It was great to get close to the girls who really mentored me through the whole experience.”
Australian Athletics will be rolling out content under the Road to Oregon banner from now until the World Athletics U20 Championships.
The camp on the Gold Coast was very successful, and the whole Team is hyped for Eugene and ready to go.
“The purpose of the camp was to prepare the athletes for the upcoming challenges associated with the World Under-20s, including performing with pressure, dealing with travel and time change, as well as performing in a hot environment,” Team Leader Craig Pickering said.
“The athletes engaged in speed learning sessions with our staff as a means of better supporting their planning in this regard, and it was great to see how engaged they were.”
By Luke Dennehy, Australian Athletics
Posted 18/6/2026
