- Gout Gout’s track career has just gone up a notch
- Schoolboy sprint star to take a leap up in class
Schoolboy sprint sensation Gout Gout will make his Australian international senior debut at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September.
Fresh from a standout performance at the national titles earlier this month in Perth, where he twice broke the 10-second barrier for the 100m and clocked 19.84 for the 200m – although all of those runs were wind-assisted – Gout is among the first group of 17 athletes named to the squad.
The 17-year-old has been named in the 200m – where he is the national record holder – and could also add the 100m and 4x100m relay to his schedule.
‘I’m super excited to be picked to run the 200 in Tokyo at the world championships,’ said Gout.
‘That’s what we’ve been aiming for.
‘I’m looking forward to September being part of my first Australian senior team and looking forward to seeing what I can do against the best of the best.’
Gout Gout has been chosen to represent Australia at the world athletics championships in Tokyo in September
The schoolboy sprint sensation (pictured at the Stawell Gift) is coming for Paris Olympics 100m gold medal winner Noah Lyles in Tokyo
In January, Gout joined Noah Lyles at a training camp in the US and then cheekily called out the Olympic 100m champ on his podcast, saying he was coming for the American in Tokyo.
Australia’s other rising male sprint gun Lachie Kennedy has been named in the 100m, despite being pipped for gold by by Rohan Browning at the Australian championships.
Kennedy contested the 4x100m relay at the Paris Olympics and has taken giant strides forward in the following eight months, including winning silver in the 60m at the world indoors in China in March.
Gout and Kennedy both performed admirably off the backmarks at last weekend’s Stawell Gift before being bundled out in the semis.
Both did their best to finish second, but were unable to overcome the brutal handicaps imposed upon them, which led some athletics fans to claim their chances were sabotaged by organisers.
Gout started 8.75 metres behind the eventual winner of the Gift, schoolteacher John Evans.
Three of of Australia’s seven medallists at the 2024 Paris Olympics – high jumper Eleanor Patterson and walkers Jemima Montag and Rhydian Cowley – have also been included in the first group of 17 nominees after meeting the complicated qualifying criteria.
Paris Olympics pole vault gold medallist Nina Kennedy, 1500m silver medallist Jessica Hull, high jumper Nicola Olyslagers and discus titan Matt Denny will be added to the team in the coming months.
The group named on Wednesday also includes several members of Australia’s group of rising middle-distance guns such as Peyton Craig and Claudia Hollingsworth (both 800m) and Cameron Myers in the 1500m.
