Fast Eddie Nketia adds fuel to Australia's sprinting ambitions

MELBOURNE, April 20 : A week after Australians absorbed Gout Gout's impressive 200 metres run at national championships, excitement surged again as the unheralded Eddie Nketia clocked a wind-assisted 9.84 seconds in the 100m at a U.S. college meet over the weekend.

New Zealand-born Nketia only switched allegiance back to Australia in December but the 24-year-old now has the nation's fastest ever 100m, albeit with an illegal tail-wind.

The University of Southern California runner's time at the Mt SAC Relays eclipsed the 9.88 clocked by Patrick Johnson in 2003, which was also ruled out of the records due to a strong tail-wind in Perth.

While Nketia will need the right conditions to stand in the record books, his performance has added to a sense that Australian sprinting is on the brink of a golden era.

At the national championships, 18-year-old Gout set an under-20 200m world record with a blistering 19.67, while Lachlan Kennedy clocked a pair of 9.96s in the 100m.

In Kenya last year, Kennedy ran a personal best of 9.98 in the 100m to become only the second Australian to go under 10 seconds.

Johnson, the first, still holds the national record of 9.93 but his mark has never appeared more vulnerable.

"What an incredible run by Nketia," Johnson told Reuters.

"Everyone will start to know who he is now.

"Leading up to the 2023 Brisbane Olympics and also next year's world championships, I think we're in a great space."

Gout, the son of South Sudanese immigrants, is already a household name in Australia with a long-term sponsorship deal with Adidas.

Nketia, however, has had a much lower profile despite claiming Australia's national 100m title in 2019 as a 17-year-old.

Although he grew up in Canberra, Nketia ran for New Zealand at the 2022