Brisbane: Gout Gout will attempt to close the gap with world champion Noah Lyles, face inevitable comparisons with Usain Bolt, and then return to school in Australia. The upcoming track and field world championships will serve as a brief yet intense learning opportunity for the 17-year-old high school senior, who has made a significant impact in the sport in Australia. Gout will compete in the 200 meters against a competitive field that includes U.S. star Lyles at Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium, where he hopes to further lower the Australian record. He gained national attention in December by running 20.04 seconds, breaking a national record that had been in place since 1968, making him the fastest 16-year-old ever in the event.
He improved this time to 20.02 at the Ostrava Golden Spike meet in June. Gout heads into the championships, which begin Saturday, ranked 16th in the world for the 200 meters — he did not enter the 100 or the 4×100 relay — but his ranking does not fully reflect his potential. He is nearly four years younger than the next-youngest athlete in the top 16 of World Athletics. He was born a decade after Lyles, who has dominated the 200 meters at the last three world championships and secured Olympic gold in the 100 meters in Paris last year.
“He may be 17, but I believe he has the potential to reach the 200-meter final in Tokyo, which would be an extraordinary accomplishment at his age — even Usain Bolt was unable to achieve that,” noted veteran sports commentator Bruce McAvaney in his preview for Australia’s SBS TV. “It’s going to be fascinating to watch his journey.” Gout has captured the attention of sports fans across Australia, where he is already being predicted to win gold at the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane. He has recorded two wind-assisted times under 20 seconds, with marks of 19.84 and 19.98 in April, though neither was deemed legal due to excessive wind.
Even without these two sub-20 performances, he ranks among the top seven all-time for Under-20s in the 200 meters, a list that includes Bolt. “My top-end speed is my advantage, so I need to focus on the first 100 and the first 50 meters, and once I navigate the bend, I know I can catch up to my competitors,” Gout stated. “So I will stay relaxed, focused, and just power through.”