Around five years back, long before this time, The evening he kept Gout Gout at bay as it quickly closed in. to make his presence known to Australia, Lachie Kennedy He was barreling through a rugby field when he initially left spectators astounded.
"There was a bit of a play down the right-hand side and he was just off and gone," Tyron Mandrusiak, the long-time director of rugby at Brisbane's St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace, recalls to Wide World of Sports.
Kennedy, addressing WWOS prior to this week's national event, athletics titles, recalls the play quite clearly.
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Kennedy recalls, "A player hits the ball towards me, my friend who has a damaged calf muscle manages to catch it just before falling down. He quickly passes it backwards, and I circle around to find myself evading everyone else and scoring."
It was an end-to-end effort, allowing those watching at The Southport School on the Gold Coast, including a wide-eyed Mandrusiak, just over 10 seconds to witness the youngster, who was in Year 10 at the time, sprinting at top speed.
"Without a doubt, that was my most spectacular performance. Just recalling it gives me chills," Kennedy says with pride.
"Bang. Away he went. And that’s all there was to it," according to Mandrusiak.
Nobody was catching up with him.
At the 200 meters event during the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne earlier last month, the scenario was as follows: Gout catching him.
Kennedy, a silver medalist at the World Indoor Championships in the 60m , would burst from the starting blocks, sprint into the straight ahead, only to be overtaken at the finish line by his younger opponent, as planned.
As destiny would have it, the scriptwriters nailed everything except for the ending.
Kennedy, a blisteringly fast starter, staved off his 17-year-old rival — Gout's Achilles heel is his cumbersome start — to win by four hundredths of a second.
The thrilling race, attended by around 10,000 spectators at Lakeside Stadium and watched by an additional 1.2 million viewers on primetime television, sets the stage for an enticing rematch at the national championships in Perth.
Kennedy is sharpening his focus on the championships with ambitious goals. The 21-year-old not only aims to show that his victory over Gout was more than just luck, but also hopes to break through the 10-second mark in the 100 meters and dip below 20 seconds in the 200 meters.
In fact, he wants to break the Australian record in the 100m, the 9.93 set by Patrick Johnson in Japan in 2003, and the national record in the 200m, The 20.04 created by Gout when he was merely 16 years old in Brisbane last December. .
Johnson still stands as the sole Australian to have crossed the finish line under 10 seconds in the 100m sprint under legitimate wind conditions.
The sole Australian to have broken the 20-second barrier in the 200m is Gatlin, even though he had an illegal amount of wind assistance during his run.
Gout will participate in the 100m race at the national championships, competing in the under-20 category. There’s also a good possibility he could break through the 10-second mark.
Speaking to WWOS over the phone, Kennedy spells out his goals with an air of confidence.
However, there’s no trace of arrogance; rather, an intriguing sense of unshakable self-assurance.
"I believe it’s just a question of when I’ll run under 10 seconds. Whether during the heats, semifinals, or finals at the championships, it will happen sooner or later," states Kennedy, who recently recorded a time of 10.03 seconds in Perth, assisted by a favorable tailwind of +1.1 meters per second.
My main priority is the 100 meters. I aim to clock under 10 seconds and secure the Australian record for the 100 meters. If all goes well and I feel energetic, I might also participate in the 200 meters.
I am really eager to claim victory in the 200 meters race and my aim is to finish under 20 seconds.
I aim to complete the 200 meters in 19 seconds and the 100 meters in nine seconds… That would be amazing. I believe I can achieve it.
My body feels amazing, and I'm running with tons of confidence.
Andrew Iselin, Kennedy's coach, is equally certain that he will break the 10-second barrier this week.
"Absolutely, without a doubt," Iselin informs WWOS.
I'd be shocked if he wasn’t involved.
When asked about his history with sprinting and rugby, Kennedy responds appropriately.
The speedster remarks, 'I’ll provide you with a brief overview,'
To put it briefly, he participated in rugby from the under-six teams all the way through his final year of high school. Not surprisingly, he held the position of wing.
Mandrusiak remarks, "It would be hard to guess that he was destined for the Wallabies," but adds, "he definitely possessed remarkable speed, and once he managed to get the ball with room to move, he became incredibly difficult to tackle."
He experimented with sprinting during his later primary school days and early high school years, took a break from it for a few years, and then came back to the track when he was in Year 11.
I initially played football casually during Year 11," Kennedy remembers, "but after being promoted to the second team, their coach noticed my speed and suggested, ‘Hey, you should join the school’s track team.’
In September during my Year 12, I clocked a time of 10.51 seconds and thought to myself, 'Hey, looks like I’m pretty good at running'.
After finishing school, I thought to myself, 'Do I take football seriously or focus on athletics? I believe I excel more in track events'.
Once you experience the thrill of speed and race victories, you can never seem to get enough.
When Kennedy came back to sprinting, Anthony Hayward was overseeing the track and field program at Gregory Terrace.
"I recall thinking, 'It’s incredible watching him run, and he certainly has a promising future ahead of him if he keeps going,'" Hayward tells WWOS.
He was an outstanding runner… He turned out to be quite unexpected.
Iselin, a sprint coach at Gregory Terrace, initially met Kennedy when the Brisbane schoolboy rejoined track and field in Year 11.
"We were aware of his speed, but quick rugby players are quite common," Iselin remarks.
However, once he truly made that move during his Year 12, it was clear he possessed something extraordinary.
He’s every coach’s ideal player.
"Nice kid, relax," Iselin says.
He is highly trainable; he grasps every concept.
Rugby athletes usually tend to be more rugged compared to sprinters… He’s quite a resilient coach. You simply need to rein him in occasionally.
You notice plenty of talented individuals passing through who lack the same degree of dedication.
Eight months prior, Kennedy first competed at the Olympics in Paris as part of the 4x100m relay squad. However, this year marks his breakout season.
In Canberra during January, he recorded a time of 6.43 seconds in the 60 meters, thereby claiming the national record from sprint legend Matt Shirvington.
In March, in the Chinese city of Nanjing, he won the silver medal in the 60m event at the World Indoor Championships. However, this competition lacked both the 60m world-record holder Christian Coleman and the defending 100m Olympic champion Noah Lyles. Great Britain’s Jeremiah Azu secured the top spot, beating him by merely a hundredth of a second.
Later in March, in Melbourne, he faced off against Gout in the young phenom's favorite event, where he achieved an upset victory.
Kennedy’s agent, Nic Bideau, informs WWOS that Gout has already demonstrated his status as a high-caliber athlete.
However, now we have a pair of them; not merely one.
Heads up, we have Kennedy with us.