Gout Gout named in first Australian squad for World Championships and will face the world’s best in Tokyo

After winning his first national championship, teen sprint sensation Gout Gout will now take on the world’s best.

Teen sprint sensation Gout Gout has been named as Australia’s first representative in the 200m in the team being sent to the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo and will take on the world’s best sprinters for the first time.

Gout, who narrowly missed the final at last weekend’s Stawell Gift as the headline act in the handicap event, has earned his maiden position on an open-age national team aged just 17.

Having demolished local opponents over 200m, Gout will face the world’s fastest men for the first time over 200m when the championships are held in September.

“I’m super excited to be picked to run the 200 in Tokyo at the World Championships. That’s what we’ve been aiming for,” he said.

“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 will compete at the World Championships in Tokyo. Picture: Martin Keep/AFP

Last month Gout ran the fastest 200m of his young career winning the national championship in a wind-assisted time of 19.84 seconds to put the world on notice.

Gout’s Australian sprint rival, Lachlan Kennedy, has also been named to compete in the 100m as part of the first 18 athletes selected to fly the Australian flag.

Olympic pole vault champion Nina Kennedy is still hoping to be ready, despite having surgery to repair a hamstring injury, while fellow Olympic medallists Jess Hull and Nicola Olyslagers were absent from the first wave of names. But five-time global medallist Eleanor Patterson will take her place in the long jump and Peter Bol in the 800m.

Australian Athletics general manager, high performance Andrew Faichney noted the strength of these athletes. “These athletes have not only proven themselves to be the best in the country, but so too the best in the world,” he said.

“Their selection is credit to the work they’ve put in across the season. We can’t wait to see what they do in Tokyo and in New Delhi (for the World Para Athletics Championships, also in September), and we’re also really looking forward to the next few months of international athletics as more Australians look to book their spots on both teams.”

Australian Athletics Team, 2025 World Athletics Championships, Tokyo

100m: Lachlan Kennedy

200m: Gout Gout

800m: Peter Bol, Peyton Craig, Abbey Caldwell, Claudia Hollingsworth

1500m: Cameron Myers, Sarah Billings

20km race walk: Rhydian Cowley, Jemima Montag, Rebecca Henderson

35km race walk: Cowley, Olivia Sandery, Elizabeth McMillen

400m hurdles: Sarah Carli

Long jump: Liam Adcock

High jump: Eleanor Patterson

Javelin: Mackenzie Little

Originally published as Gout Gout named in first Australian squad for World Championships and will face the world’s best in Tokyo