Gout Gout handed fresh boost in bid for maiden world title as rivals falter in 100m event
Australian sprint phenom Gout Gout has been handed a massive boost in his bid for a first world title at just 17 years of age.
Gout Gout has been given a welcome leg up ahead of his world championships debut this week, with chief rivals, reigning 100m and 200m Olympic champions Noah Lyles and Letsile Tebogo, having a forgettable night in the 100m event in Tokyo.
Gout will be the youngest Australian male to appear at a world championships when he takes to the track for his 200m heat on Wednesday night (AEDT).
Watch the biggest Aussie sports & the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
And while the 17-year-old will be looking to shock the world, he will need things to go his way to topple the likes of Lyles and Tebogo.
But in a huge boost to the Aussie, the pair had a race to forget in the 100m on Sunday night.
Tebogo false-started and was subsequently disqualified, while Lyles could only manage third.
Instead, it was Oblique Seville (9.77) who took gold, becoming Jamaica’s first man to take the 100m world title since Usain Bolt.
And the way the race played out will surely give Gout some extra confidence, given the fact that neither Seville nor the second-placed Kishane Thompson (9.82) are competing in the 200m event.
According to Sportsbet, Gout is the fourth favourite to take out the 200m event, which would be an incredible achievement at just 17 years of age.
Only Tebogo and Americans Lyles and Kenny Bednarek are more favoured than Gout.
And all three of them looked well off their best on Sunday night in the 100m final.
After Tebogo was disqualified, commentators noted he looked uncharacteristically tense.
“I cannot believe it. The tension was too much. Tebogo knew he needed a quick start,” one commentator said.
It was a message echoed by Lyles post-race, with the Olympic champion saying he knew he would struggle off the blocks as “that man was panicking in the back”.
Bednarek got off to a shocking start and struggled to make any significant ground in the 100m.
Despite that he finished only just behind Lyles who took bronze in 9.89.
The American was fast out of the blocks but didn’t show his customary mid-race acceleration.
Now the American pair’s attention turns to the 200m, where they will face Tebogo and Gout.
Gout decided to forego the opportunity to run in the 100m to instead focus solely on his preferred 200m.
The Aussie teen has become a household name in the past 12 months as he continues to break Australian records.
He recently ran a legal 20.02s in the 200m at the Golden Spike Ostrava on June 24, breaking his own national record in the event by 0.02s in what was the second-fastest under-18 time ever posted in the 200m.
Gout also ran a wind-assisted 19.98s (+3.6) over the distance at the Queensland Athletics Championships in March.
But despite his raw talent and his rivals appearing a bit off the mark, Gout will still need to go to a whole new level if he is to claim the men’s world title this week.
Tebogo won the 200m event in Paris in a sizzling 19.46, with Bednarek (19.62) and Lyles (19.70) rounding out the placings.
So if Gout is to end up on the podium, he will need a mix of his rivals performing below par and also for him to produce the run of his life.
The Aussie has shown he can take monumental leaps in quick succession, so time will tell if this is a step too far too soon or if he is right in the mix for a world championship medal.
When does Gout Gout compete at the world championships?
Gout will run in the 200m heats from 9.15pm on Wednesday.
If he progresses, he will then line up in the semi-finals at 10.02pm on Thursday.
If he makes it all the way to the final, he will line up alongside the world’s best sprinters in the final on 11.06pm on Friday.
How can I watch Gout Gout at the athletics world championships?
SBS and Channel 9 are both broadcasting the world athletics championships live and free.
Both broadcasters are showing every event of the nine-day program.
Which other Aussies are competing at the world championships?
It isn’t just Gout Gout in action at the world championships with a record 86 athletes donning the green and gold in Tokyo.
The full list of competitors is below.
Men:
100m: Joshua Azzopardi, Rohan Browning
200m: Gout Gout, Calab Law, Aidan Murphy
400m: Reece Holder, Cooper Sherman
800m: Peter Bol, Peyton Craig, Luke Boyes
1500m: Cameron Myers, Jude Thomas, Adam Spencer
5000m: Ky Robinson, Jack Rayner, Seth O’Donnell
3000m Steeplechase: Ed Trippas
High Jump: Yual Reath, Brandon Starc, Roman Anastasios
Pole Vault: Kurtis Marschall
Long Jump: Liam Adcock, Christopher Mitrevski
Triple Jump: Connor Murphy
Discus Throw: Matt Denny
Javelin Throw: Cameron McEntyre
Marathon: Andrew Buchanan, Tim Vincent, Liam Boudin
20km Race Walk: Rhydian Cowley, Declan Tingay, Tim Fraser
35km Race Walk: Rhydian Cowley, Will Thompson, Mitchell Baker
4x100m Relay: Joshua Azzopardi, Jacob Despard, Christopher Ius, Calab Law, Rohan Browning, Connor Bond
4x400m Relay: Reece Holder, Cooper Sherman, Aidan Murphy, Thomas Reynolds, Terrell Thorne, Luke van Ratingen, Augustine Nketia Junior
Women:
100m: Bree Rizzo, Torrie Lewis, Ella Connolly
200m: Torrie Lewis, Mia Gross, Kristie Edwards
400m: Ellie Beer
800m: Abbey Caldwell, Claudia Hollingsworth, Jessica Hull
1500m: Sarah Billings, Linden Hall, Jess Hull
5000m: Rose Davies, Linden Hall, Georgia Griffith, Lauren Ryan
10,000m: Lauren Ryan, Isobel Batt-Doyle
100m Hurdles: Liz Clay
400m Hurdles: Sarah Carli, Alanah Yukich
3000m Steeplechase: Cara Feain-Ryan, Amy Cashin
High Jump: Nicola Olyslagers, Eleanor Patterson, Emily Whelan
Long Jump: Samantha Dale, Delta Amidzovski
Triple Jump: Desleigh Owusu
Discus Throw: Taryn Gollshewsky
Hammer Throw: Stephanie Ratcliffe, Lara Roberts
Javelin Throw: Mackenzie Little, Lianna Davidson
Marathon: Vanessa Wilson, Sarah Klein, Tara Palm
20km Race Walk: Rebecca Henderson, Elizabeth McMillen, Alexandra Griffin
35km Race Walk: Olivia Sandery, Rebecca Henderson, Allanah Pitcher
More Coverage
Heptathlon: Camryn Newton-Smith, Tori West
4x100m Relay: Ella Connolly, Kristie Edwards, Torrie Lewis, Bree Rizzo, Georgia Harris, Leah O’Brien
4x400m Relay: Ellie Beer, Alanah Yukich, Mia Gross, Carla Bull, Jemma Pollard, Sarah Carli, Amelia Rowe
‘100 per cent with Australia’: Defection stuns
Olympic great now struggles to walk stairs
