Lachlan Kennedy (born 4 November 2003) is an Australian sprinter. He competed at the

2024 Olympic Games The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. In 2025, he became Australian short track champion and set a new national record, and won the silver medal at the World Indoor Championships, over

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At indoor events, the 60 metres is run on lanes set out in the mi ...

Early life

Kennedy grew up in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

where he attended

St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace (colloquially known as Gregory Terrace, Terrace or GT) is an independent Catholic primary and secondary day school for boys, located in Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Found ...

throughout his upbringing. He played for Brisbane junior

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

representative sides and played junior international rugby union for Australia before switching his focus to athletics.

Career

Kennedy was a member of the Australian U20 4 x 100 metres relay team which broke the 12-year-old Australian U20 relay record in 2022 in a time of 39.30 seconds. He represented Australia at the 2022 World Athletics U20 Championships in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

, Colombia. In November 2023, he won the silver medal over

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

at the

2023 Pacific Games The 2023 Pacific Games, officially known as the XVII Pacific Games and commonly known as Sol 2023 or Honiara 2023, was a continental multi-sport event for Oceania countries and territories held in Honiara, Solomon Islands between 19 November an ...

Honiara Honiara () is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. , it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and lies ...

behind compatriot Calab Law. Kennedy was a member of Australia's 4x100-metre men's relay team that set a new Oceania record of 38.12 seconds at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. On 25 January 2025, in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, he equalled the Australian record for

running a time of 6.52 seconds, and then, later in the day, ran 6.43 seconds (+1.6) to set new senior Australian and Oceania records and equal the tenth fastest recorded time ever. On 26 January 2025 Kennedy set a new 100m PB with 10.17 s running into a -1.0 m/s wind. At the Australian short-track championships, held in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in February 2025, Kennedy won the 60 metres with a time of 6.51 seconds. On 1 March 2025, he ran 10.03 seconds (+1.1) to win the Perth Classic 100m, moving to equal third on the Australian all-time list alongside

Matt Shirvington Matt Shirvington (born 25 October 1978) is an Australian former athlete and television presenter who held the Australian 100m national sprint title from 1998 to 2002. Shirvington is the third fastest Australian sprinter of all time. He qualifi ...

. He represented Australia in the 60 metres event at the

2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships The 20th World Athletics Indoor Championships were held from 21 to 23 March 2025 in Nanjing, People's Republic of China, at the newly built Nanjing's Cube gymnasium in the Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park. Nanjing was originally due to host the ...

held on 21 March in

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

, China. He qualified for the semi-finals with a run of 6.52 seconds. After qualifying for the final, he ran 6.50 seconds to win the silver medal, one hundredth of a second behind the winner, Jeremiah Azu of Great Britain. He won the 200 metres race at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne on 29 March 2025 ahead of compatriot Gout Gout, running a personal best 20.26 seconds. He lowered his personal best to 10.00 seconds for the 100 metres during the heats of the Australian Athletics Championships in Perth on 11 April 2025. He finished runner-up in the final in a time of 10.01 seconds, five thousandths of a second behind winner Rohan Browning, who was also credited with 10.01. He finished fifth in the 100 metres in 10.18 seconds at the

2025 Xiamen Diamond League The 2025 Xiamen Diamond League was an outdoor track and field meeting in Xiamen, China. Held on 26 April at Xiamen Egret Stadium, it was the opening leg of the 2025 Diamond League – the highest level international track and field circuit. Di ...

event in China, in April 2025. He competed for Australia at the

2025 World Athletics Relays The 2025 World Athletics Relays was held at the Guangdong Olympic Stadium in Guangzhou, China on 10 and 11 May 2025. It was the 7th edition of the World Athletics Relays and the first time the event was held in China. The 2025 edition was the ...

in China, helping the Australian men's team qualify for the 2025 World Championships. He ran a new personal best of 9.98 seconds to win the 100 metres at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi on 31 May 2025.

Personal life

In 2018, he was diagnosed with

type 1 diabetes Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body's immune system destroys pancreatic cells (beta cells). In healthy persons, beta cells produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone require ...

. He attended the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

to study Engineering and Design.

References

External links

*
Lachlan Kennedy
at Australian Athletics
Lachlan Kennedy
at Australian Athletics Historical Results * *
Lachlan Kennedy
at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics (archived
alternate link
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Lachlan 2003 births Living people People with type 1 diabetes Australian male sprinters Athletes from Queensland Place of birth missing (living people) Pacific Games medalists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Australia 21st-century Australian sportsmen World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists