Australia’s athletics squad has suffered a double blow weeks out from the world championships in Tokyo, with rising sprinter Lachie Kennedy and genuine medal prospect Jemima Montag both ruled out with heartbreaking injuries.
Kennedy, who, along with Gout Gout, is at the forefront of Australia’s exciting emerging sprinting stock, revealed on Tuesday he has had to make the difficult decision to skip the worlds in Japan, which begin on 13 September, with a stress fracture in his back.
“It’s with a heavy heart I have to announce that I will not be competing at this year’s world championships in Tokyo due to a progressing injury,” Kennedy wrote on Instagram.
“Grateful for the year and the support I’ve received, I wouldn’t change a thing. I’ll use this time to heal, grow and come back stronger than ever.”
The news comes on the same day that dual Olympic walking medallist Montag also announced she had been forced to pull out of the championships due to surgery required on a problematic hamstring.
Having already won silver at the 2023 world titles and bronze in the 20km and mixed marathon relay at last year’s Paris Olympics, Montag was considered a chance to deliver gold for Australia in Tokyo.
“Knowing at that point we would only have five or six weeks until Tokyo and that this hamstring tendon injury has the propensity to recur, ultimately the medical team decided it was best to fly home, get it operated on and prioritise the longer-term vision,” Montag told AAP.
“It’s such a heart-sinking moment because I’d felt it before [at a training camp in June].
“You’ve been hoping and praying throughout the rehab that you’ve got enough time, that you’re simultaneously taking things slowly enough but also progressing quickly enough that you’ll be good for the world championships when it matters. So feeling that sharp pain in the hammy for the second time was fairly heartbreaking.”
In June this year, Kennedy became just the second Australian to break the 10-second barrier over 100m, clocking 9.98 seconds in Nairobi with the aid of a legal tailwind, beating Gout to the magical milestone.
Gout and Rohan Browning have both threatened to go sub-10 recently, but neither has yet managed to record an official time. Gout’s two efforts of 9.99s at this year’s national championships were aided by an illegal tailwind and did not count. Meanwhile, he ran 9.94s this weekend, but at a schoolboy meet that was hand-timed and not recognised officially.
Australia’s final Tokyo-bound team will be announced next week.
