Starc cleared for takeoff in Perth

The Perth Track Classic is back this Saturday for the first time since 2020, with Australia’s top athletics talent set to land in the west as world-leading sprinter Lachlan Kennedy, a cast of Olympic and Paralympic medallists and local heroes headline a night of speed and spectacle at WA Athletics Stadium.

Following the Adelaide Invitational as the second one-day meeting in the Summer Series, the Perth Track Classic also owns World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze status – bolstering the qualifying hopes of athletes gunning for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo this September.

The warm and windy forecast will only aid the white-hot Lachlan Kennedy (QLD) in his mission to shatter the elusive 10-second barrier over 100m in Perth, fresh off a 6.43-second run over 60m to make him the fastest man in the world this year. The 21-year-old sprinter will take on reigning Australian champion, and New South Wales Institute of Sport scholarship holder, Sebastian Sultana who is still a teenager at 19-years-old, Olympic teammates Jacob Despard (TAS) and NSWIS’s Joshua Azzopardi (pictured below) – along with 10.01-second man Shuhei Tada (JPN).

“The next goal for me is to break the Australian record [9.93] in the 100m, that’s been my goal for a minute now. I know I can do it; I think I can do it because the training is feeling real good,” Kennedy said. “I have never been to Perth, but I’ve heard its rapid.

“If it’s not at the Perth Track Classic then hopefully at Nationals we can dip below 10-seconds, because it’s definitely in the realm of possibilities right now.”

Bree Rizzo (QLD) will be out to double down on her dominance in the Women’s 100m after clocking the win in Adelaide, while Ebony Lane (QLD) and Stawell Gift winner Chloe Mannix-Power (QLD) will stake their claim as contenders.

On the field, it is hard to go past Australian record holder Brandon Starc, NSWIS, who has been cleared for takeoff in the Men’s High Jump.

The three-time Olympian who owns a 2.36m best is ready and raring to return to the Australian circuit after injury has derailed his recent domestic campaigns.

“This is my first Track Classic since 2021 and my first competition in Perth since 2016, so I’m very much looking forward to getting back over there and getting amongst it!” Starc said. “This year’s preparation has been uninterrupted which is the first step in getting back to my best in 2025.”

back-to-back world champion and Olympic bronze medallist Kelsey-Lee Barber (QLD) will let loose in the Women’s Javelin.

Olympic semi-finalist and World Under 20 silver medallist Peyton Craig (QLD) will spearhead the middle-distance action in a showdown against Japan’s Ryoji Tatezawa in the Men’s 1500m, while Australia’s youngest ever World Under 20 medallist Mason McGroder (NSW) will push the eight-metre marker alongside Olympian Liam Adcock (QLD) in the Men’s Long Jump.

Paralympic medallists Michael Roeger (SA, T46) and Reece Langdon (VIC, T38) will go head-to-head in the Men’s 1500m B-race which will showcase Australia’s top-end para athletics talent – including rising star Angus Hincksman (SA, T38) and Daniel Milone (VIC, T20).

In the sprinting ranks, Paralympic bronze medallist Mali Lovell (NSWIS, T36/pictured above) will battle it out with Western Australia’s own Rhiannon Clarke (WA, T38) over 200m, while Paralympic silver medallist Michal Burian (VIC, F64) will throw down the gauntlet to his able-bodied rivals in the Men’s Javelin.

Local talents including Olympic semi-finalist Alanah Yukich (WA), World Under 20 silver medallist Amelia Rowe (WA) are locked and loaded for the Women’s 400m, while 14-year-old Emilia Reed (WA) is poised for the biggest race of her career in the Women’s 200m.

The Perth Track Classic will begin at 3:30pm AWST on Saturday March 1.

Story: Sascha Ryner, Australian Athletics.