‘Out on a high note’: Australian sprint great Rohan Browning retires

Rohan Browning, one of Australia’s greatest sprinters, the man who reawakened mens’ sprinting in Australia before Lachie Kennedy and Gout Gout, has retired.

Months after winning gold in the sprint relay at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow the man who was a poster boy of Australian athletics after making the semi-final at the Tokyo Olympics has ended his racing career on a high at the age of 28.

He retires as the fourth-fastest Australian man in history after his 10.01seconds run in his heat at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, which saw him become the first Australian male in 21 years to make an Olympic semi-final.

​“That was a moment that changed my life,” Browning said.​

“It gave me a really healthy dose of self-belief because it had been a quiet period for Australian men’s sprinting.

​“There weren’t many role models on the scene, and I feel like I had to forge that path myself.”

There was a symmetry to Browning’s two big international career moments: both were like Browning in their understatement.

The biggest, of course, was the Tokyo Olympics, but it was delayed and staged nervously a year late during COVID with no crowds and empty stands. The next was in Scotland at the Commonwealth Games, patched together into a tiny stadium in Glasgow that held about as many people as Melbourne’s Albert Park after Victoria pulled out of hosting the games and left the entire games concept in jeopardy.

For a man who demanded attention whenever he set foot on the track, it was an irony that his biggest performances were in front of the smallest crowds.

“I really wanted to go out on a high note, and after winning the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in the relay, it was only going to go downhill from there,” Browning said.

​“The athlete in me still thinks that I could get back, run personal bests and compete at the highest level, but no athlete is ever going to be truly satisfied.

​“The thing that I’m actually proudest of is that I made every team from my debut in 2017 to my retirement in 2026.”

Dubbed the “Flying Mullet” early in his career for his lustrous locks that was all business up top and party down the back, had the looks, the eloquence and, most importantly, the speed to capture the public imagination.

Frustratingly, he never officially broke 10 seconds, but he did run a wind-assisted 9.96s in Wollongong months before the Tokyo Olympics. Four times he won the Australian 100m title.

​​“I feel like I’ve played my role within the event in Australia, and the sport has taught me to understand myself,” Browning said.

​“I’ve cherished every opportunity I’ve had to represent Australia, and I’m looking forward to being able to enjoy athletics as a fan.”

Critically, as the public and the media became fixated ​with the new next big things in sprinting – Gout Gout and Lachie Kennedy – it was the third wheel, the somewhat overlooked Kennedy who upstaged both of them last year at the national championships to win his fourth Australian 100m title.

​“Stress and pressure have always brought out the best in me,” Browning said.​

“People had written me off and said that I was over the hill. I didn’t think that I was, and to prove it in that moment was really special.

​“I’ve spent so many years dedicated to this one challenge, and I’ve loved every minute of it,” Browning said.

​“But I’ve reached a place where I’m ready for the next challenge, and I’m excited by the prospect of doing new things.”

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