Australia’s fastest man, sprinter Rohan Browning, took an important step in his preparations for this year’s Paris Olympics by winning the 100m-200m double at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne on Thursday.
The 26-year-old claimed the 100m with a time of 10.34 he described as “pedestrian” at a windy Lakeside Stadium, well outside his best of 10.01 run in the heats at Tokyo.
“I was just excited to be back racing, and trying to gap fields, that’s the main thing,” he said.
Browning doubled up with a rare appearance in the 200m event, named in honour of Peter Norman, beating a field that included 16-year-old Gout Gout.
It was only Browning’s second meet in 2024, part of a training plan that focuses on maximising time at home and fewer competitions.
“I’ll run in Sydney next [on 23 March], then [April’s Olympic] trials in Adelaide, and that’s it for the Australian circuit,” he said. “It’s to be determined after that, hopefully the Oceania championships [in Fiji in June].”
Browning has been competing in Europe by June in the past two years, but suffered illness in the lead-up to the 2022 World Championships. He raced 18 individual 100m races over 2023, his most ever.
The experiences have led to a revised approach to his program this year, as he seeks to become the second Australian after Patrick Johnson to break the 10-second barrier.
“I’m just trying to learn and build early in the year and take those lessons into the European summer,” he said.
In the 200m, Browning finished 0.68s ahead of Queensland’s Gout, one of Australia’s brightest athletics prospects who came home fifth.
The New South Welshman said he’s now been racing for 10 years and he feels like “the elder statesman”.
“You wouldn’t know [Gout] was that young, just how strong he is, how well he is running and the fact that he’s out here with opens, so credit to him.”
In the women’s 100m, new Australian record-holder Torrie Lewis was narrowly beaten by New Zealander Zoe Hobbs. The 19-year-old Lewis broke the Australian mark two weeks ago, but started slowly on a breezy Thursday evening and couldn’t reel in her rival.
In other events, 18-year-old Claudia Hollingsworth beat a high-quality field in the 800m thanks to a personal best, as she went under the two-minute mark for the first time. Birmingham Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Abbey Caldwell was second, and national record-holder Catriona Bisset finished third.
Stewart McSweyn defeated Britain’s 2022 world champion Jake Wightman in the men’s 1500m.
In the 5000m, winner Rose Davies and Isobel Batt-Doyle became the fourth and fifth Australian women to run under the 15-minute barrier.
And Tokyo silver medallist Nicola Olyslagers took out the women’s high jump, clearing 1.99m.
