Australian sprint star Rohan Browning is aiming for “finals and beyond” after scorching to victory in his opening-round heat of the men’s 100m at the Tokyo Olympics.
Browning, 23, crossed the line in 10.01 seconds, leaving the likes of 2011 world champion Yohan Blake from Jamaica in his wake.
He stripped four hundredths of a second off his personal best and moved to second spot on the Australian all-time list behind Patrick Johnson, who ran 9.93 back in 2003.
No Australian man has qualified for an Olympic 100m final since Hec Hogan won bronze in Melbourne in 1956, a feat now well within Browning’s reach if he can replicate this run in the semis on Sunday.
“I’ve been dying for a bit of world-class competition so that’s what I was looking forward to today,” Browning told the Seven Network.
“I had a look at the start list when the heats came out and I thought ‘geez I’ve got one of the stiffest heats’.
“But you’d rather do it the hard way because it’s much more satisfying that way and you’ve got to front up to everyone at some point.”
Browning is putting no limits on what he can achieve if he gets through the semis and into the final late on Sunday evening.
“Without a doubt – finals and beyond,” he said.
“There were a lot of media pundits writing up really well-meaning stories about how great it would be for me to make a final.
“But I’ve never been here to just to make the final.
“No matter what the bookies say, or the pundits or the punters, I hope there are a few more believers tonight.”
Browning was the equal fifth fastest qualifier for Sunday’s semis, with Canadian Andre de Grasse topping the timesheets with 9.91.
Pre-race favourite Trayvon Bromell from the US only scraped into the semis after finishing fourth in his heat in 10.05.
AAP
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