A not so ordinary day for Browning

It was a day that began just like any other when Rohan Browning stepped out onto the track at the Illawarra Track Challenge in Wollongong on Saturday.

Not even as he positioned himself on the starting block did he think he’d make history in his 100m run that day. But as the starter gun went off, he flew. Faster than he had before, clocking 9.96s, and as he crossed the finish line he became only the second Australian behind Patrick Johnson to break the golden ten-second barrier.

While a tailwind of 3.3m/s ruled him ineligible for Olympic qualification, Browning said the feeling as he crossed the line was incredible nonetheless.

“I’ve just tried to tick boxes all the way and not train with any particular end goal in sight, but hearing 9.96 was an amazing feeling,” Browning said.

“You’re always hopeful of that sort of performance when you go to compete.

“And when you’re in good shape, you always know it because you’re training well and things are going along well. But the tough thing in this sport, is getting that little window of luck where you can get a perfect legal tailwind.

“It’s hard to run fast in a headwind and it’s annoying to run fast when you’re in an illegal tailwind. But I knew I could run fast, I knew it was a good day but hopefully I can do it again with more favourable conditions.”

While Browning and his coach Andrew Murphy have already spotted room for improvement, the 23-year-old said he’s glad to finally be reaping the rewards of hard work after an inconsistent few years on the track.

“I’ve been training for the sake of getting into shape to try and capitalize on opportunities when they present themselves. I’ve been really healthy for the past year, which has been rare in my career and it’s so great to experience the benefits of that.

In March 2019, Browning started his year running an impactful 10.08 in his first race of the season but a knee injury plagued the lead up to his Doha campaign.

“Eventually I started to get on top of it before the World Championships, but I ended up getting gastro just before when I was supposed to be in Austria competing and I never really recovered.

“I went into Doha and had a shocker. I came 40th and after that, I just knew that the next year would just be all about retribution and trying to prove something to myself.”

Since his blistering run, he’s been asked many times over whether if conditions were perfect, he could repeat his performance. To that, he says it’s not about the time but about setting out to achieve a goal.

“It’s a bit of a fool’s errand to try and run conversions. Everybody comes up with their own, so at the end of the day, the whole point of the meet for me was to run three good rounds and treat it like a training session. It was a bonus that I ran a few good times.”

While trying not to spectulate, Browning is also very ready to post the 10.05s or under needed to qualify for Tokyo, and the next opportunity for him to do so will be at the ACT State Championships in February.

 “ACT State Championships. It’s going to be a big one,” he said.

“I think that’ll hopefully draw a lot of good athletes from all around, although not everyone will be able to be there. It’ll be a good opportunity to run head to head with some of the best.”

“It’s a good track and it’s just a perfect opportunity to run really fast.”

By Sascha Ryner
Posted: 19/1/2021
Photo: David Tarbotton