The track star is an unlikely sporting hero for an athlete who hails from a nation of rugby legends including David Campese, John Eales and George Gregan.

But it is Australia’s fastest man who inspired the 27-year-old Sydney-sider to become one of the most decorated players in sevens Olympic rugby history.

Two decades after his retirement, Patrick still holds the Australian and Oceania men’s 100m record with a time of 9.93 seconds set in Mito, Japan in 2003.

It was his performances at the Sydney and Athens Olympics that captured Henry’s attention and was the catalyst for his passion for both running and rugby.

Photo Credit: Simon Upton

“Patrick was a little bit before my time, but he was the best and when you're the best, you are looked up to,” Henry says.

“He’s the only Australian to break the 10-second barrier and is a shining light of Australian athletics.

“Patrick was an idol of mine back when I was playing cops and robbers running down the hallway at our family home in Bronte, and still is today.

“I remember him competing at the 2000 Olympics when I was really little, but the biggest impact probably came in 2004 at the Athens Olympics and the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, he’s always been my inspiration.”

The son of two maths teachers, Anna and Mathew, Henry spent his early years in Sydney before the family moved to Melbourne for primary school and for his father to become deputy principal at St Kevin’s College.

The school, whose alumni track and field club includes Luke Mathews (2016 Olympic 800m) and Peter Bol (2020 Olympic 800m), is known for its sporting prowess.

Little Athletics became a family institution with Henry, older brother Nick and younger sister Meg competing, while their parents donned the stopwatches and measuring tapes as volunteers.

It was there Henry discovered his love for running and competition. But it wasn’t until he moved back to Sydney and finished school at Saint Ignatius College, Riverview that he found the sport which would make him an Olympian.

The inclusion of sevens rugby in the Rio Olympic program confirmed his sporting future.

He signed a one-year contract with Rugby Australia to play sevens just 12 months before he would debut at the 2016 Games. He backed this up by competing in Tokyo at the postponed 2020 Games.

“I don't want to play down my love for rugby, but I knew I wasn't going to be good at it unless I was fast,” says Henry, whose name still graces the prestigious Greater Public Schools (GPS) Athletics record book for his U17 100m winning time of 10.78 seconds.

“I'm not the biggest guy in the world, so I had to have a point of difference with speed and change the direction, that's where athletics came in.

“Sevens wasn't massively on my radar. When it was introduced at the Olympics there was a lot of hype and more funding; we now have legitimate careers for sevens’ players.

“I'd always been captivated by the Olympics. For me, sevens being included was a coming together of my childhood dream.”

The Australian men’s sevens team go to the Paris Olympic hoping to improve on its previous results finishing eighth in Rio and seventh in Tokyo. It faces Samoa, Kenya and Argentina in the rounds.

One person who will be taking a close interest in the team’s performance will be Patrick.

The former sprinter will be in Paris for the Games in his role as the head of the Australian Olympic Committee’s Indigenous Advisory Committee.

“It's very humbling,” says Patrick of Henry’s accolades.

“When you're in the sport itself, you are aware there are young people you inspired, but to actually know in some small way have shaped somebody's dream is powerful. I'm very honoured.

“I wasn't born to be an athlete. I wasn't dreaming to be an Olympian or be the fastest man in this country. When I apply myself to anything I do in life, I ensure I put the time and effort; I have the belief and commitment to do my best.”

The men’s sevens rugby kicks off with Australia v Samoa at Stade de France on 24 July at 11.30pm (AEST). The medals will be decided on 28 July from 3am (AEST).

Catriona Dixon