Lachlan Kennedy will miss the 2025 World Athletics Championships (13-21 September), he announced on social media.
The Australian sprinter competed earlier this year at the Indoor Championships in Nanjing, People’s Republic of China, where he won the silver medal in the men’s 60m.
But Kennedy will be forced to skip the World Championships with a growing back issue, having suffered a stress facture that the 21-year-old does not want to risk aggravating by going out to Japan next month.
“It’s with a heavy heart I have to announce that I will not be competing at this year’s World Championships in Tokyo due to a progressing injury,” Kennedy wrote on social media. “Grateful for the year and the support I’ve received, I wouldn’t change a thing. I’ll use this time to heal, grow and comeback stronger than ever.”
The Olympian holds the national record in the 60m and the 4x100m, the latter of which he and his teammates achieved at Paris 2024. Kennedy had come in as a last-minute replacement on the opening leg, contributing to the Australian and Oceanian record.
On the injury keeping Kennedy out of the World Championships, his manager Nic Bideau told news.com.au, “He’s been dealing with a sore back for a while and it’s not good enough for him to run,”
“He hasn’t been able to train, and he just doesn’t want to go [to Tokyo] to pick up a tracksuit, he’s the sort of guy who knows he can compete as he got a medal at the world indoors. He’s only 21 and there is no reason to push on and take the risk. He wants to get himself right so it’s not a problem which lingers for the next few years.”
Australia will announce their final team for the athletics meet next week, which will include 17-year-old sensation Gout Gout, who has qualified for the 200m.