Johnson wants another Australian sprinter to break the 10 seconds barrier

MELBOURNE - Still Australias fastest man, Patrick Johnson will watch with interest as a crop of young sprinters look to take down the 100 metres record he has held for over 20 years at national athletics championships in Perth this week.

Johnson remains the only Australian to break the 10-second barrier, having clocked 9.93 seconds at a meet in Mito, Japan in 2003.

Now a sports administrator in his 50s, Johnson never imagined his mark could survive so long and will be happy to see it broken.

Look, I was the first but I never wanted to be the last, Johnson told Reuters.

Its nice to have a few sprinters having a look at it.

Those on the hunt include 21-year-old Lachlan Kennedy, who ran 10.03 seconds at the Perth Track Classic a month ago despite a sluggish start out of the blocks.

Kennedy backed that up with a runner-up finish in the 60 (6.50) at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, and upset Australias 17-year-old sensation Gout Gout in the 200 at the recent Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne.

Kennedy will go head-to-head with Rohan Browning, who set Australias second-fastest 100 time of 10.01 seconds at the Tokyo Olympics.

Gout, who ran 10.04 with an illegal wind at the Australian schools championship last December, will run the 100 in the under-20 event.

BUDDING RIVALRIES

While Australia has never been a force in global mens sprinting, the budding rivalries and emerging talent have seen interest spike in local athletics after the Paris Olympics.

Australia won seven athletics medals at Paris, the nations best Olympic haul since Melbourne 1956.

The Maurie Plant Meet drew 10,000 people to Lakeside stadium to watch the Gout-Kennedy showdown in the 200 the first sell-out crowd for a one-day athletics event in Australia in over 20