A competitor had two false starts and was subsequently disqualified but all the prerace drama didn’t disrupt Semmens, who powered his way to a silver medal at the titles in Bendigo.

“I didn’t even know what was going on the first time, then I realised that someone jumped the gun and the second time, they did the same,” he said. “I was a little bit anxious after it.”

But it didn’t show, with Semmens notching up a podium finish in the under 20 men’s event after clocking 55.44 seconds.

Semmens, a high-functioning autistic 18-year-old, usually races against athletes with an intellectual disability but at the state country titles there was no classification. The athlete said his friends and family were proud of his achievement.

He also contested the 1500m (fifth), 800m (eighth) and long jump, recording three jumps of more than five metres.

“I’m starting to get pretty consistent,” he said.

The Bellarine Athletics Track and Field member is preparing for state and national championships.