Young Australian sprinter Lachie Kennedy has roared to an historic silver medal in the 60m at the world indoor championships, pipped agonisingly for gold after a blistering finish in China.
The 21-year-old Queenslander, making a spectacular indoor debut, proved fastest over the final 10 metres but could not quite reel in Britain’s European champion Jeremiah Azu, who won in a photo finish by just one-hundredth of a second on Friday’s opening day in Nanjing.
Kennedy’s 6.50 seconds was an Australian indoor record, and demonstrated that, following Gout Gout’s recent spectacular exploits, the country can boast more than one brilliant young men’s sprinter.
Kennedy is the first Australian ever to win a medal in the blue riband sprint in the 38-year history of the short-track showpiece, surpassing Matt Shirvington’s fifth place in Lisbon in 2001.
For one moment, it looked as if the Brisbane man might even have emulated 200m champion Melinda Gainsford-Taylor in 1995, the last Aussie indoor sprint gold medallist, as it was unclear initially who had grabbed the gold.
South Africa’s Akani Simbine took the bronze in 6.54 sec.
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