MELBOURNE : Lachlan Kennedy said Australian athletics is enjoying a “golden age” after he and Torrie Lewis shattered national 100 metres records while winning medals at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Kennedy clocked a personal best 9.85 seconds to finish second behind Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme (9.83) in Tuesday’s final, breaking Patrick Johnson’s long-standing Australian record of 9.93 set in 2003.
Lewis also rewrote the Australian women’s record, lowering her own national mark in the semi-finals before improving it again to claim bronze in the final with a time of 10.99 seconds.
“Far out … we got a medal in every event we competed in,” the 22-year-old Kennedy told Australian media.
“Aussie track is clearly in, I think, the best spot it’s ever been and our team is so strong.
“We’re in a real golden age with a lot of youngsters and a lot of good veteran talent as well.”
Kennedy had become only the second Australian to legally break the 10-second barrier in the men’s 100 metres when he ran 9.98 seconds at a meeting in Kenya last year.
His silver medal came in what was the fastest men’s 100 metres final in Commonwealth Games history, with Eseme taking gold in 9.83 seconds. Lewis’s bronze capped another landmark performance for Australian sprinting as she continued her rapid rise by setting a second national record on the same day.
