The next generation of Australian sprinters have been carving tracks for themselves this year, with runners like 17-year-old Gout Gout already earning legendary status.
And the City of Armadale can lay claim to its own rising superstar in 13-year-old Charlotte Ehioghae, who is now the fastest Under 15 girl in the country.
The Ehioghae family have become synonymous with Western Australian athletics; Charlotte’s brother and sister are also national sprint stars in their own right, with all three putting on a show in front of a fierce home crowd at last month’s Australian Athletics Junior Championships at WA Athletics Stadium.
Charlotte got her first taste of the track at the age of four, with the young sprinter showing promise very early on.
As a member of Byford Little Athletics, Charlotte became the Under 9 Girls Club Champion and earned a place at the State Little Athletics Championships with a 100m sprint time of 15.33sec.
She also had enviable success later on with the Ranford Athletics Club, smashing long-standing club and regional records left, right and centre.
In 2023, she charged onto the national stage earning a bronze in the Under 14 100m sprint at the Australian All Schools Championships, and finishing just 0.3 seconds behind the current U16 girls Australian record holder, Emilia Reed.
Last year, she debuted at the Australian Athletics Junior Championships. A flying final 20 metres saw Charlotte secure silver in the U14 Girl’s 100m final in 12.61 (-2.6), just 0.03 seconds off gold. But she did get her golden moment after an incredible performance in the 200m finals.
Fast forward to last month, when Charlotte took her crown as the fastest Under 15 girl in the country after an incredibly slick performance in the 100m sprint at the 2025 junior nationals.
In a race that caused just about every chin to hit the ground, Charlotte streaked down the blue track leaving her opponents in her wake, and crossing over the line with a time of 11.36 (+2.5).
Her blistering time now places her on an even footing with Riley Day as the fourth fastest Under 18 Australian girl ever.
For a 13-year-old female sprinter to smash through the sub-12 second barrier is almost unheard of.
Last year Melanie Doggett, a 13-year-old from Atlanta, Georgia, ran 11.53 seconds in the 100m to set a new world age group record.
Despite eclipsing that time, Charlotte will have to wait a little longer to rewrite the world history books.
Unfortunately. Charlotte’s race recorded a tailwind speed of 2.5 metres per second.
A race is considered ‘wind-assisted’ if the tailwind exceeds 2.0m/s.
While a wind-assisted win is still a valid victory, it can’t be used to establish a new record.
So, Charlotte’s gob-smacking time at the junior nationals is not considered ‘legal’.
The same rule also snared Gout Gout, who smashed the 10-second barrier twice in one day earlier this year, but whose times were not recorded as official records.
Still, Charlotte’s race time is impressive even with the tailwind advantage; engineers have calculated that a 2.5m/s tailwind can shave around 0.15 to 0.2 seconds off a 100m time.
Compensating for the wind’s advantage, Charlotte’s adjusted time could reasonably have been 11.56 seconds.
To prove that she’s got what it takes to be the fastest of all time, in her heat Charlotte clocked a time of 11.54 seconds (legal) which is only 0.01 seconds off the world age record, and officially the 213th fastest time recorded by any woman in the world this year.
Charlotte’s World Ranking is currently 684 in the Women’s 100m sprint. And she’s only 13.
Naturally, Charlotte was pretty chuffed with herself.
“I feel truly amazing being the fastest female in my age group in Australia. It’s an incredible achievement, and I know I have the potential to push myself even further,” she said.
“I felt an incredible sense of accomplishment after training hard and putting in the effort. I dedicated myself fully, and in the end, I not only achieved my goal but exceeded it.
“I’ve been involved in athletics since I was only four years old, and it has truly become a passion of mine, dedicating nine years to it.
“I really appreciate the joy that comes from winning and the strong sense of teamwork. “Watching others run and their dedication is inspiring and motivates me to push myself even further.”
Charlotte’s teachers and classmates at John Curtin College of the Arts are in awe of the Year 8 drama students’ drive and recent achievements.
“The College is immensely proud of Charlotte’s success; including the level of discipline and sacrifice it takes to perform at such an elite level,” Director Health and Physical Education Matthew Donlevy said.
With such an awesome start to her career, Charlotte is aiming big, and training four days a week to get there.
“I truly aspire to go to the Olympics one day and I am fully committed to doing so,” she said.
