Rohan Browning ends Australia ‘s long – standing sincere 100 – meter star wait Tokyo Olympics 2020

A tenth of a second or two hundredths Browning needed on Saturday to break the 10-second hurdle are the finest margins. These are the speeds at which butterflies wave their wings and it feels almost cruel that Brownings ’performances in Tokyo are measured on such a scale. It is the difference in reaction time outside the blocks, the difference in the last stroke of the line. As Browning said, that’s the smallest margin that really matters.

For casual athletics fans, Browning may have arrived on Saturday when his heat victory was his first Australian race since 1956. But for those who pay more attention to the Australian track scene, Browning has been on the radar for some time. Consistent running times in the low 10-second range and even once breaking into a sacred single-digit club, albeit with an illegal gust of wind, Browning always made an impression in Tokyo.

But the way he won his heat highlighted the potential of 23-year-olds. Browning was not lucky there. He was in Tokyo, at the starting line of the 100-meter semi-final, to which he belonged. Rohan Browning is the real thing.

He has a position of 10.01 not 9.99, although the margin may seem good. All 100-meter finalists have less than 10 personal records on Sunday night and the winning time from Italys Lamont Marcell Jacobs was 9.80. If Browning wants to challenge at this highest level and be a legitimate medal contender at major events, he needs to improve further. But Browning has time on his side, he was one of the younger runners on the semi-finals.

I’ve always thought that this sport is about consistency and not individual big times and then non-existent, he said. I’ve been very consistent around that 10.0 point. There you have to be to be able to drive under 10 and really be at that level. But apparently I’m just not there yet. I hope not far away.

What Browning showed in Tokyo, you don’t bet on him. It’s certainly only a matter of time before he joins Patrick Johnson as the only Australian to have run under-10. Johnson’s 9.93 national record doesn’t seem like an impossible goal for Browning.

And so, Browning dusts himself and goes on. There’s always something, he said, after his dream in Tokyo ended. It’s the upside of top sports. Another chance is always waiting.

Browning will leave next to Europe, where he plans to compete in an athletics tour. Next year, he will compete in the Indoor World Championships, the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games. He is among the favorites in the latter; his time in the heat of Tokyo 2020 would have won him gold at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

It’s been a long time since Australia had a sincere 100-meter star. Confident and charismatic, Browning has stars on and off the track. If he can drive a few hundredths of his current personal record and run consistently below ten, he will be in a good position before the 2024 Paris Olympics.

There are pieces I walk away with that are positive and pieces that I can work with. It’s part of the learning experience, Browning said as he said goodbye to the Olympic Stadium. In the end, I learned a lot from this. That’s the main point.

This is not the end of Rohan Browning. Tokyo 2020 was just the beginning.