When Joshua Ross took to the track at the Athens 2004 Olympics, no one realised quite how unique that appearance would be.
Ross made the quarterfinals and ran a personal best in that race, narrowly missing out on sending an Australian through to the semifinals of the Men's 100m at an Olympic Games.
No one thought that it would be 17 years until we see an Australian man back in the event again.
But finally, Australia has a sprint king worthy of pulling on his spikes for the biggest stage of all.
Meet Rohan Browning. A 23-year-old from Sydney who knows how to run, fast.
Browning has been a revelation across the Australian Athletics circuit over the last Olympic cycle.
It's always been widely accepted how talented he is, but no one could have guessed just how much progress he would make in the last two years.
After missing out on the 100m final at the 2018 Commonwealth Games by 0.001 seconds, Browning has been a man on a mission.
In March 2019, he recorded a new PB of 10.08. It was the third-fastest time by an Australian at the time and the quickest by any Australian runner for 12 years.
He bettered that again in March 2021 when he ran a 10.05 in Brisbane. The exact mark he needed to qualify into the Olympic event.
Rohan Browning 10.05 +1.0. Olympic qualifier!!!!!!! @AthsAust pic.twitter.com/OHe1WIHLQU
— Tim Rosen (@timrosen35) March 27, 2021
Browning also ran a 9.96 in January of this year, although it was wind-assisted. But in doing so he became just the second Australian to run a sub-10s 100m, ever.
Why is @Rohan_Browning not trending? The dude just became the 2nd Aussie EVER to run a sub 10 100m in any conditions. 9.96 is flying! For media outlets wanting vision to use...here you go!!! @wwos @7Sport @10SportAU @FOXSportsAUS @ESPNAusNZ @theagesport @heraldsunsport @1116sen pic.twitter.com/DWrBeyJda2
— Tim Rosen (@timrosen35) January 16, 2021
The last 18 months have presented so much uncertainty for Australia's athletes in the lead up to the Olympics but Browning knew it was an opportunity that he had to make the most of.
"It was tough at first but the reality was it didn’t change much of what I was doing," Browning told Sporting News earlier this year on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on his training for Tokyo.
"I was always going to be training every day of the week, whether the Olympic Games were going ahead or not. That was never going to change.
"When it got postponed, the nature of that training is what changed. I think it was a good experience in developing some mental resilience more than anything else.
"I just benefited from having a really long winter base where I could do all the non-glamorous work that just needs to be done.
"It can be hard to find the time for that when there's always time pressures around having to compete, having to get in shape for another, either a national trials or a global championship.
"So that was definitely the benefit of the delay."
Browning isn't the only Aussie athlete who has spoken about finding the silver lining in the Olympics being postponed.
A lack of international competition could have been detrimental for Australia's rowers, but they turned that into their advantage and as a result, have had an incredible Games.
For Browning, the most important part of his re-designed training regime has been the timing.
It's all well and good for him to be training hard but his focus is on making sure that he's at his absolute peak when he hits the track in Tokyo.
The 23-year-old is realistic. His current PB isn't going to get him a medal.
But on his side is confidence. The confidence he has what it takes to run sub-10.
"I definitely think that there's a sub-10 there, a legal sub-10," Browning said.
"I'm trending in that direction. I'm not deluded, I know that running 10.05 or 10.09 doesn't win you medals, but it's not about what you do now, it's about what happens in July.
"That's what all my training is gearing towards so I hope I can just keep bringing the times down and they really competitive."
Regardless of the result in Saturday's heats, Browning will have made history by returning Australian colours to one of the marquee events in world sport.
While there's a sense of expectation on Browning's shoulders, he doesn't feel that pressure.
And most of all, he just can't wait to become part of the small group of Australians to have raced at the 100m at the Olympic Games.
"There's no pressure in it, it's really nice to be part of this exclusive club I suppose in the sprinting fraternity," Browning said.
"I've just been so lucky that guys like Shirvo (Matt Shirvington) have been so selfless with their time and you know, helped me out with mentoring, giving me advice when I've needed it, that's just been invaluable."
Browning will take to the track in Heat 7 of the Men's 100m on Saturday night at 9.33 pm AEST.
