Aussie sprint star Rohan Browning announces shock retirement at 28

Australian sprint star Rohan Browning has announced his retirement at the age of 28.

One of the country’s shining lights on the track, the man known as the ‘Flying Mullet’ broke out at the Tokyo Olympics when he won his heat in a time of 10.01 seconds.

A breakthrough sub-10 time eluded Browning but he achieved many highs — including beating rising sensation Lachie Kennedy to the 2025 title and anchoring Australia to relay gold at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

He said that triumph gave him the perfect opportunity to big farewell.

“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.”

Browning was a four-time Australian national champion and, after his Tokyo breakthrough, also went to the Paris 2024 Olympics.

He showed his high level against Kennedy in the 2025 national championships.

“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.”

Browning then staved off a protest from friend and relay teammate Josh Azzopardi to make the 2026 Commonwealth Games squad.

He ran a season’s best time in the semi-final in Glasgow but missed the medal round.

His crowning moment instead came in the 4x100m relay alongside Kennedy, Azzopardi and Calab Law.