Lachie Kennedy ran 9.85 seconds to smash the Australian 100m record and win silver at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games on 29 July — ending a medal drought for Australia in the event that had stood for 64 years.

Cameroon's Emmanuel Eseme took gold in 9.83, two hundredths ahead. Nigeria's Kanyinsola Ajayi, 21, claimed bronze. The wind was legal at 1.3 m/s, meaning the time stands for all record purposes.

Kennedy's 9.85 obliterated the previous Australian mark of 9.93, set by Patrick Johnson in Japan in 2003. That record had survived 23 years. The 22-year-old had already hinted at what was coming: he ran a personal best of 9.94 in his semi-final earlier the same day, then took another ninth of a second off in the final.

No Australian man had medalled in the Commonwealth 100m since Michael Cleary's bronze in 1962. The silver also capped a personal comeback. Kennedy missed the 2025 outdoor world championships with a stress fracture in his back, won his first Australian national title in Sydney in April 2026, and now stands on a Commonwealth podium four months later The Guardian.

Eddie Nketia, who switched allegiance from New Zealand to Australia, finished sixth in the final in 10.06 after running 10.03 in the semis. It was the first time in 44 years that two Australians contested a Commonwealth Games men's 100m final.

Australia's teenage sprint sensation Gout Gout, who holds a personal best of 10.00, missed the Glasgow Games with a hamstring injury.

Torrie Lewis delivered her own slice of history in the women's 100m. The 21-year-old ran 10.99 to become the first Australian woman to break 11 seconds, winning bronze behind New Zealand's Zoe Hobbs (gold) and England's Amy Hunt (silver). Lewis had run 11.00 in her semi-final — a personal best at the time — then found another hundredth in the final.

Earlier in the evening, Ky Robinson won gold in the men's 10,000m, Australia's first in that event since 1958. Australia also secured a one-two finish in the women's high jump.

Away from the podium, 20-year-old Jamie Oldham of Jersey broke his island's 100m record in the heats, clocking 10.41 BBC Sport.

What makes this night stand out is the depth of Australian sprinting on display. A national record, a 64-year drought broken, the first sub-11 by a woman, two finalists in the men's 100m — all on a single Glasgow evening, and all from athletes aged 22 or younger. Whether this is a one-night peak or the opening chapter of something larger is a question for the seasons ahead.