Browning eliminated in Olympic 100m heats

Australian sprint star Rohan Browning’s disappointing 2024 campaign has continued after he failed to get out of the opening round of the men’s 100m at the Paris Olympics.

Browning has only raced sparingly this year while managing a knee injury, but he has been encouraged by recent training form.

That did not translate to the track at Stade de France on Saturday when he trailed home sixth in his heat in 10.29 seconds.

At the same stage of the Tokyo Games three years ago, Browning became a household name when he won his heat in 10.01 – going agonizingly close to becoming only the second Australian man to break the 10-second barrier.

On Olympic debut after only learning he would get a start in the individual 100m in Paris a matter of days before the opening ceremony, Josh Azzopardi was a creditable fourth in his heat in 10.20 – just six hundredths of a second outside his personal best.

In more encouraging news, fellow Australian Kurtis Marschall booked his spot in the pole vault final with a first-time clearance at 5.70m.

Marschall bombed out of the Tokyo Olympics final without registering a height, but bounced back to win the bronze medal at last year’s world championships.

The 27-year-old dislocated his left ankle in a fall at the national championships in April, meaning he has only been able to compete three times in Europe in the buildup to the Paris Games.

Abbey Caldwell ran a flawless tactical race in the opening repechage in the women’s 1500m to book a spot in Sunday’s semis.

With only the winners of the four repechages guaranteed to advance, Caldwell bid her time before emerging to the lead at the top of the home straight, winning in two minutes 00.07 seconds against a field including 2019 world champion Halimah Nakaayi from Uganda.

Australian record holder Catriona Bisset was eliminated.