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Gout Gout stuns again as Torrie Lewis continued her rise to stardom Peru world junior championships

Aussie internet sensation Gout Gout has delivered on the world stage once again with an incredible run at the junior world championships, as Torrie Lewis won silver in Peru.

Emma Greenwood
3 min read
September 1, 2024 - 11:45AM
Gout Gout wins silver at u-20s World Championships

Gout Gout has given the world a glimpse of his enormous potential at the world junior championships, running a time just a tic faster than the great Usain Bolt recorded in the same event more than 20 years ago.

While Gout finished eight hundredths of a second behind South Africa’s Bayanda Walaza (20.52sec), to take silver, the enormous potential of the Queensland teen is beyond doubt.

Walaza snared the sprint double with an outstanding start and bend that blew the rest of the field out of the water.

But Gout almost ran down the man two years his senior, coming at him like a steam train down the straight as he got into his acceleration phase and only just failing to overtake him on the line.

Gout’s time of 20.60 was a personal best and 0.01sec faster than the time Usain Bolt - the man he is regularly compared to - ran to win the 2002 championship at the same age.

That was not Bolt’s best time though. The Jamaican had run 20.58 in the opening rounds and lowered his time to 20.13 while still 16.

It shows the incredible trajectory Gout, the son of South Sudanese immigrants and still a student at Ipswich Grammar, is on though given he does not turn 17 until December.

While Walaza’s effort to snare the double cannot be underestimated, all the talk has been about the rising Aussie star and what he could do in the future given his limited time in the sport.

Earlier, Torrie Lewis won silver in the women’s 200m final, just unable to get over Adaejah Hodge in the straight, with the British Virgin Islands athlete taking gold in 22.74, just 0.14sec ahead of the Australian.

Lewis cannot be too disappointed though, finishing with a personal best time of 22.88 in finishing second.

After making the Olympic semi-final and winning a Diamond League event earlier this year, upsetting US star Sha’Carri Richardson, Lewis had expected plenty of herself in Lima.

But she came up against a better athlete on the day.

Torrie Lewis also won silver in Peru. Picture: @Worldathletics
Torrie Lewis also won silver in Peru. Picture: @Worldathletics

Hodge, a rising star herself, also competed in Paris, carrying the flag for her country in the opening ceremony and now has a gold in the 200m, her pet event, to go with the silver she claimed in the 100m earlier in the event.

The performances of Gout and Lewis capped a stellar day for the Aussies in Peru, following silver medals to 800m runners Claudia Hollingsworth and Peyton Craig, bronze for Delta Amidzovski in the 100m hurdles to go with the gold medal she won in the long jump and long jump bronze forMason McGroder after a personal best leap of 7.80m.

Claudia Hollingsworth took out silver in the world junior championships. Picture: Michael Klein
Claudia Hollingsworth took out silver in the world junior championships. Picture: Michael Klein

Hollingsworth falls just short of junior world champs gold

Australia has picked up a pair of silvers early in the penultimate day of finals action at the world junior championships, with Olympic representatives Claudia Hollingsworth and Peyton Craig finishing second in the 800m.

Hollingsworth, who made the semi-finals of the 800m in Paris in her first Olympic Games just weeks ago, put herself in the perfect position to win the race but just ran out of steam in the straight, with Kenya’s Sarah Moraa taking gold in 2min 0.36sec.

Moraa had made all the running in the final, leading through the opening lap and surging down the back straight to the 600m.

But she could not shake Hollingsworth, who moved wide in the home straight and looked as though she would pass the Kenyan.

But Moraa found another gear, leaving Hollingsworth (2:00.87), the Melbourne product coached by Craig Mottram, to settle for silver, just holding off America’s Sophia Gorriaran (2:01.04), who took bronze.

Craig finished second behind Ethiopia’s General Berhanu Ayansa (1:46.86) after starting as the fastest qualifier for the final.

Like Hollingsworth, the Queensland teen also made the semi-finals of the 800m in his Olympic debut in Paris, upstaging teammates Peter Bol and national record-holder Joseph Deng, and had heaped plenty of expectation on himself ahead of the world juniors.

“I came here to win this title,” he said after his semi-final win.

While he had to eventually settle for silver, Craig (1:46.95) did well to stay with the leaders after a blistering pace in the first lap, to be in a position to use his kick down the home straight where he passed two other athletes to take the silver medal but just failed to overtake Ayansa.

A multi-talented athlete, who has also represented Australia in triathlon and previously ran at the world juniors over 3000m, Craig has found his groove in the 800m and is a talent for the future.

Earlier, Isaac Beacroft set a new Australian U20 Record in the 10,000m race walk to finish fourth.

Delta Amidzovski has continued a stellar world junior championships, winning bronze in the 100m hurdles to go with the gold medal she won in the long jump on Thursday.The Aussie had been gunning for double gold but finished just 0.25sec behind outstanding Jamaican hurdler Kerrica Hill (12.99) and Croatia’s Mia Wild (13.15) to finish with an outstanding medal haul from Peru.

More Coverage

Meet the two young Aussie runners set to take over the field
Scott Gullan
Watch: Viral sprint star Gout Gout stuns with another world-class run
Emma Greenwood

Originally published as Gout Gout stuns again as Torrie Lewis continued her rise to stardom Peru world junior championships

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Original URL: https://www.ntnews.com.au/sport/olympics/cycling/star-teen-claudia-hollingsowrth-runs-second-at-world-junior-championships-in-peru/news-story/93322dc41b9bae961c24d2a09db012ee