Jack Hale has become Australia's fastest junior sprinter of all time.
The teenage Tasmanian sensation broke the Australian under-20 100m record on Saturday (Sunday AEST), clocking 10.21 seconds (+1.6) at the Mannheim Junior Gala in Germany.
The spectacular time, which Hale ran in a heat, was 0.06 quicker than the previous record of 10.27, set in March by teammate Trae Williams at the Australian under-20 championships in Perth.
It makes the 18-year-old the 11th-fastest Australian of all time of any age.
It was also just 0.05 short of the Olympic qualifying time of 10.16.
Hale went on to win the final in 10.38 (-0.5), while Queenslander Williams took out the B final in 10.79 (-0.2).
The pair are in Europe with Australia's 55-athlete under-20 team preparing for the world under-20 championships in Poland next month.
Having arrived little over two days before the race, Hale was optimistic even better performances await once the jetlag has worn off.
"I feel as though stages of the race were perfect," he said.
"I've been practising that transition to the last 50m, and feel as though I'll be a new athlete once I freshen up in the coming weeks.
"Since I landed I've been a bit tired, so that makes it even more pleasing.
"I've always had a big goal in mind to make the final at world juniors and so far there are no stand-out performances, so once I'm in the final it's game on."
Hale has until July 11 to post an Olympic qualifier, meaning he'll have to do so before the world juniors start on July 19 in Bydgoszcz.
"I've got a lot of time still - three weeks to do the time, but limited races," he said.
"It might end up I do the time after the qualifying period, we'll see how it goes."
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