Aussie athletics phenom Gout Gout is being tipped for bigger and better things in the near future after impressing at the world championships despite missing the 200m final. And a stunning detail around Usain Bolt shows Gout has a bright future ahead of him.
The 17-year-old Aussie finished fourth in his semi-final in Tokyo on Thursday night, but his time of 20.36 seconds wasn’t enough to see him progress to the final. Gout would have needed to clock 19.98 or better to book a spot in the title race, where friend and mentor Noah Lyles will be a red-hot favourite after a sizzling 19.51 in the semis.
Gout Gout finished fourth in his 200m semi-final at the athletics world championships. Image: Getty
Despite missing the final, Gout received plenty of plaudits from around the athletics world, with many quick to put his performance into context. For comparison, Gout’s time in the semi was faster than the legendary Bolt produced (20.68) in his first semi-final at a senior world championships – in Helsinki in 2005.
At that stage of his career, Bolt was two weeks short of his 19th birthday, while Gout won’t be 18 until December. Bolt also finished fourth on that occasion and missed the final.
“The biggest eye-opener is knowing that I can compete at a young age against the best men in the world,” Gout said after the race. “It definitely makes me hungry, knowing that I’m just a kid right now, but knowing that I can compete as a kid.
“And the thing I have on them is time. They may not have 15 years – but I’ve got 15 years. I know that if I can do this at 17, then I can do this at 25 and I’ll be even better at 25.
“I can definitely compete with a skinny frame, but getting bigger is one of the things that’s going to help me, especially with my blocks start. Knowing that I can get that strength and execute my race plan even better and get faster times.”
Gout Gout bettered the time that Usain Bolt produced in his first world championships semi-final. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Athletics world blown away by Gout Gout performance
Gout had been aiming to become the first Australian to break the 20-second barrier in the 200m, but came up short on a wet night in Tokyo. His best time was the 20.23 he clocked in the heats – well short of the national record of 20.02 he set earlier this year.
“I’m always hard on myself and obviously I didn’t do sub-20,” he said. “That wasn’t in God’s plans today but I know that I will do it in the future. It’s just a matter of executing the race plan and doing it at a good meet. I know it will happen and I can’t wait.”
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Legendary commentator Bruce McAvaney said on SBS that Gout making the semi-final at age 17 was “amazing”. He added: “For a 17-year-old it’s just been a huge experience. The three men ahead of him (in the semi-final) are all top shelf.”
Tamsyn Manou added: “He’s just finished fourth in a world championships semi-final. That is just an incredible result. He’s going to learn so much from this. As a 17-year-old he picked off some athletes who are far older than him and better conditioned. He shouldn’t be able to do that, but he has.”
On Channel 9, Dave Culbert told Gout: “You should be very proud of what you did, you ran a great race. If you look back at the heats and the minor mistakes you made, you cleaned them up. I was a teammate of Cathy Freeman’s, so I have been on that ride and seen someone transform a sport, and that’s what you’re now doing.”