{"id":148335,"date":"2025-09-16T21:51:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T21:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/148335\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T21:51:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T21:51:15","slug":"gout-gout-to-start-afl-grand-final-sprint-featuring-olympic-medallist-harry-garside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/148335\/","title":{"rendered":"Gout Gout to start AFL grand final sprint featuring Olympic medallist Harry Garside"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout will fire the starting pistol for the AFL<\/a> grand final sprint while Olympic boxing medallist Harry Garside will take on some of the league\u2019s fastest players.<\/p>\n

The popular tradition will take place on the MCG at half-time of the premiership decider.<\/p>\n

Just seven players will be selected to take part alongside Garside, a major shift from the usual heats featuring a player from each club.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today \"Download<\/a><\/p>\n

Garside recently clocked 2:39:22 in the Sydney Marathon \u2014 after resuming his professional boxing career with a win and tackling Channel 7\u2019s Dancing with the Stars earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited to be part of the half-time sprint this year,\u201d Garside said in an AFL statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a Hawks fan, I\u2019m always backing the boys to make it to the big stage, and the chance to run out alongside AFL players on grand final day is something really special.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait to be part of such an iconic moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gout, who will make his world championships debut in Tokyo on Wednesday night, is similarly hoping to cheer on Brisbane at the grand final.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m super excited to be coming to Melbourne for the grand final in September and firing the start pistol for the half-time sprint!<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst time for me… and I hope I\u2019ll be cheering on the Lions!<\/p>\n

\u201cThe AFL grand final is such a massive day, I\u2019m pumped!\u201d<\/p>\n

While he won\u2019t be running this time, the in-demand Gout\u2019s appearance follows his high-profile attempt to win the Stawell Gift alongside fellow sprint star Lachie Kennedy earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The eyes of the world have been on Gout ever since he broke out in 2024, with the legendary Usain Bolt this week urging the Aussie talent not to expect too much too soon.<\/p>\n

The good news is the remarkably composed 17-year-old Queensland schoolboy has given no indication that he can\u2019t take it all in his stride.<\/p>\n

\"GoutGout Gout took part in the Stawell Gift earlier this year. Credit: Morgan Hancock\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Gout has every chance of charging into the 200m semi-finals \u2014 and becoming the first Australian to dip under the 20-second barrier \u2014 when he makes his senior international debut in Tokyo.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing the first Australian to do it is something I think about all the time,\u201d Gout said in his only pre-race media conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to run under 20 seconds is a great achievement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you get under 20 seconds you know that you can achieve more because running 19 seconds, you know you\u2019re up there in the top 15 or 20 in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout will fire the starting pistol for the AFL grand final sprint while Olympic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148336,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,588,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-148335","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sport","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148335\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}