Australia’s sprinting renaissance has found its newest star in 17-year-old Leah O’Brien, who blazed down the straight at the Australian Athletics Championships in Perth to dismantle the long-standing Australian Under 18 record held by sprinting icon Raelene Boyle.
Running in the Under 18 Girls 100m Final, the Perth product delivered a performance of 11.14 (+1.7) that will go down in the history books, eclipsing Boyle’s record of 11.20 set at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico – a mark that has stood for 57 years.
O’Brien’s record-breaking run adds yet another chapter to a golden era for Australian sprinting, following recent breakthroughs by the likes of teen sensation Gout Gout, World Indoor Championships medallist Lachlan Kennedy and Australia’s fastest woman Torrie Lewis. Her time reinforces the depth and promise surging through the nation’s sprint ranks.
“I honestly thought my race in the heats [11.46] was a really good time, I expected to maybe go 11.3 in the final but I’m so happy because I have been working really hard for that,” O’Brien said.
“It’s around the time that the Open girls run which is crazy to be running that still in high school.”
Having already won the Under 18 Girls 200m title on Saturday in 23.37 (-1.1), O’Brien now has the sprint double for 2025 in her age group, defeating World Under 20 Championships representative Thewbelle Philp (QLD, 11.35) and Amaya Mearns (11.45) with the trio standing in the same order on the podium as they did on Saturday.
Coached by Braiden Clarke, O’Brien moves to ninth on the global all-time list in the Under 18 ranks and equal fourth on the Australian Open all-time list, and will now get ready to back up once more, competing in the 100m Open event on Friday afternoon at 5.55pm AWST.
“I’m going to come back and run the Opens. I really look up to the top girls in Australia like Torrie Lewis and Bree Masters. I’m always watching their Instagram reels and looking at their photos, it just looks so great and inspirational,” O’Brien said.
“A lot of my family and friends are here, this is definitely the most support I have ever had. It’s so great to experience this moment with the people I love and share the happiness.”
“I think I have really put my name out there and hopefully I can be in contention for teams in the future.”
In the Under 18 Boys 100m, it was South Australian Kelechi Ekwomadu who stormed his way to the finish line in 10.40 (+2.8), with Gout Gout’s training partner Jonathan Kasiano (QLD) claiming silver in 10.54 with Oliver Facer (NSW) rounding out the podium in 10.58.
The junior component of the Australian Athletics Championships will conclude tonight, with the Open and Under-20 events commencing on Thursday at 8.30am AWST.
The Championships are the finale of the Chemist Warehouse Summer Series, with the meet also supported by the Western Australian Government through Tourism WA, as well as Venues West and Athletics West.
By Sascha Ryner, Australian Athletics
Posted: 8/5/2025
