Australia’s fastest man Rohan Browning, a stunning semi-finalist in the 100 metres at the Tokyo Olympic Games, is at serious risk of failing to qualify for Paris 2024.
The 26-year-old has been relegated to 57th in the World Athletics Road to Paris table, with only 56 competitors able to qualify for the event.
Only three competitors may qualify from each nation, with Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson (who ran a 9.77 last week) the fastest as it stands.
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But after previously sitting 54th, just above the cut line, Browning is currently outside of the Olympic places and will learn his fate over the coming week.
He will only qualify if someone above him either withdraws due to injury, or does not satisfy their nation’s entry standard.
The automatic qualifying time for the event was 10.00 seconds and Browning’s career best of a 10.01sec came in the heats in Paris. He followed that up with a 10.09sec to finish fifth in the semi-final.
While he ran a 10.02sec in the Australian championships last year, a knee injury has hampered his preparations for Paris. He ran a 10.06sec in January that was assisted by an illegal wind.
His fastest official time during the qualifying period was 10.10sec; having not run a 10.00sec or better, Browning needs to qualify via the world rankings pathway.
Browning finished fourth at the Australian national championships in April, with 18-year-old Sebastian Sultana (10.27sec) victorious from Joshua Azzopardi (10.39sec), Jacob Despard (10.41sec) and Browning (10.41sec).
Azzopardi is 60th in the qualifying order and would need enormous help to make the cut for Paris, while Sultana is 81st.
Browning could still qualify for the Games if selected on the five-man squad for the 4x100m relay event.