Channel 7 to broadcast Maurie Plant meet featuring Gout Gout live against the footy on Saturday March 29th

Rising sprinting superstar Gout Gout is making an immediate impact in athletics, with a free-to-air television network set to live broadcast an event to compete with the AFL.

Athletics has tried for years to get mainstream TV coverage but it’s taken Gout Gout just a couple of months to change that.

Such is the fascination and excitement surrounding the Queensland schoolboy, the biggest meet on the Australian domestic season is now going to be shown in prime time.

The Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne on Saturday March 29 will be live on air at 7pm on Channel 7’s main channel with legendary broadcaster Bruce McAvaney in the hosting chair.

With Fox Footy taking over AFL on Saturday nights, Seven has turned to Gout to raise its ratings in the important timeslot.

The 17-year-old will fittingly race in the Peter Norman Memorial 200m, the event named after the man whose 56-year-old record he broke in December when he ran an incredible 20.06sec at the national All Schools championships in Brisbane.

Sprinter Gout Gout will compete in the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne on March 29. Picture: Richard Walker

Seven’s owner Kerry Stokes has formed a relationship with Gout after they met in Melbourne last year, offering any support he needs on his quest to become Australia’s greatest sprinter.

“I’m super excited to be running in the Maurie Plant,” Gout said. “I was there last year, I really enjoyed it there and what was exciting was the great atmosphere.

“But I reckon I’ve got a lot more to bring this year to Melbourne. I’m hoping to run great.”

Seven will also feature Gout on its current affairs show Spotlight in the week leading up to the Maurie Plant meet which includes McAvaney interviewing him at Ipswich Grammar School where he is currently doing Year 12.

Gout Goutwill step out at the Queensland state championships next weekend where he will run in the U/20 100m and 200m. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Gout, who in January spent time training with Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles in the US, will step out at the Queensland state championships next weekend where he will run in the U/20 100m and 200m.

He is in a race to break the magical sub-10 second barrier for the 100m with fellow Queenslander Lachlan Kennedy putting a marker down last week in Perth with a stunning 10.03sec. Gout ran 10.04sec with an illegal tail wind in December.

Joining Gout in Melbourne will be Botswana’s Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo who will be running in the 400m at Lakeside Stadium while Australia’s fastest woman Torrie Lewis will race over 200m.

Originally published as Channel 7 to broadcast Maurie Plant meet featuring Gout Gout live against the footy on Saturday March 29th