Teenage phenom Gout Gout concludes a breakout track season in Australia
athletics
By JOHN PYE
The kind of pace that propelled teenage sprinting phenom Gout Gout to break decades-old Australian records and earned him an invitation to train with Olympic champion Noah Lyles ended up costing him in his season finale.
The handicapper's calculations on Monday achieved what few of Gout's rivals could do all southern summer, making it too difficult for the 17-year-old high school senior to win.
As a back marker at the Stawell Gift — a 120-meter handicap race contested on the Easter weekend since 1878 on a turf track in regional Victoria state — Gout missed out on the final when he placed second in his semifinal race. Only the heat winners advance.
Runners start from handicap marks according to their recent form in the 100 meters. And so John Evans, who started from a mark 8.75 meters (yards) ahead of Gout and five lanes across to the right, narrowly won their semifinal race. Evans then went on win the final.
The meet was broadcast live across Australia on commercial television in high expectation of a showdown between Gout and 21-year-old Lachlan Kennedy, a silver medalist in the 60-meters at the World Indoor Championships in China last month. The national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corp., featured the meet in a live blog on its website.
Gout had run wind-assisted sub-10-second times in the 100 and a sub-20 200 over the last month to win national titles. Those times don't go into the official records — because the tailwinds were above the allowable threshold — but his titles and swift progress through the senior ranks have captivated Australians and renewed interest in the domestic track and field scene.
At age 16 last December, Gout ran 20.04 seconds to win the 200 at the national high school championships and break a 56-year-old national record over that distance set by 1968 Olympic silver medalist Peter Norman.
The fledgling rivalry between young sprinters Gout and Kennedy already has Australians excited about the 2032 Summer Games, which were awarded in 2021 to Brisbane, Australia,
For Gout, who lives in nearby Ipswich, it will be a hometown Olympics. He'll be 24 in 2032, and he's already being compared with legendary sprinter Usain Bolt based on their times as teenagers. Even Lyles said in a podcast conversation with Gout that it could be the 'perfect storm' for the young Australian runner.
'That's the end goal for sure,' Gout said, 'Yeah, 2032, that's what I'm at for sure.'
For now, he'll take a quick break, concentrate on his high school studies and then start preparing for the world championships in Tokyo in September. On Monday, he just soaked up the atmosphere for a while.
'It's definitely great. This is a great meet. The crowd, the people, the track, everything,' he said. 'It feels pretty incredible. People come from all around Australia to watch me run.'
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yomiuri Shimbun
2 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Rio Takeda and Eri Okayama Lead a Japanese Surge in the Women's British Open
PORTHCAWL, Wales (AP) — Rio Takeda overcame a double bogey at the turn with four birdies over her final seven holes Thursday for a 5-under 67 to share the lead with Eri Okayama in a Women's British Open that featured a Japanese surge and a mixed day for Lottie Woad. Japanese players held the top three spots at Royal Porthcawl, with Miyu Yamashita at 68. Three others were among the top 12 after an opening round in which the wind kept anyone from going low but about half the field was at par or better. Takeda, one of 20 players who have won on the LPGA Tour this year, took a double bogey on the par-5 ninth hole, only to rally over the closing hole to make up ground. Okayama, who plays the Japan LPGA, hit fairway metal to 12 feet on No. 17 for her final birdie. Woad started the month as the No. 1 amateur in women's golf. She won on the Ladies European Tour, missed a playoff by one shot in an LPGA major and then won the Women's Scottish Open against a strong field in her pro debut. She was the betting favorite at the final major of the year and did well to stay in the mix with a birdie on the par-5 18th for an even-par 72. Woad played alongside defending champion Lydia Ko (73) and Lilia Vu, a double major winner from two years ago, who had a 74. 'Had a good amount of birdies, just a few poor bogeys on the front nine that could have definitely been avoided,' Woad said. 'Nice to finish on par and birdie the last. It's one of those rounds that could have definitely gotten away from me. I am happy how I hung in there and got a decent round together.' Nelly Korda, whose No. 1 ranking she has held for the last 16 months is in jeopardy, had an early bogey and kept a clean card the rest of the way, adding three birdies for a 70. Much like Woad, that round could have produced a much higher score if not for a series of key pars, none bigger than Korda's 12-footer on No. 16. 'Sometimes you have to get lucky when you make the wrong decision. You kind of have to bail yourself out,' said Korda, still looking for her first win this year after seven titles last season. Korda and Woad played in the afternoon, when the wind began to blow harder off the Bristol Channel, and faced a quick turnaround before starting the second round in the morning. Mao Saigo, who won the first LPGA major of the year at the Chevron Championship, and Riviera Maya Open winner Chisato Iwai were in the large group at 69. That also included Mimi Rhodes of England, who leads the LET money list with three titles. Rhodes grew up playing across the Bristol Channel, and she came over a month ago to see Royal Porthcawl ahead of her first Women's British Open. The wind was strong that day, which made Thursday feel more manageable. 'The members told me it was the windiest they'd ever seen it, so I played it like with a lot of wind,' Rhodes said. 'So yeah, maybe I played it when it was at its toughest and now I just think it's easier.'
The Mainichi
6 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Volleyball: Japan falls 3-0 to Poland in Nations League quarterfinals
NINGBO, China (Kyodo) -- Japan's bid for Volleyball Nations League glory came to a crashing halt Thursday with a 3-0 quarterfinal loss to Paris Olympic men's silver medalist Poland. Led by opposite spiker Kewin Sasak's 15 points, Poland prevailed 25-23, 26-24, 25-12 at the Ningbo Beilun Sports and Art Centre to book a semifinal showdown against Brazil. Opposite spiker Kento Miyaura scored a match-high 17 for Japan, which led for stretches of the opening set and went neck-and-neck with Poland in the second before the Europeans ran away with the third. Star outside hitter Ran Takahashi said Japan paid the price after it "wasted" opportunities to clinch the first two sets. "We need to address the weakness and complacency that prevented us winning the first and second sets," Takahashi said. "There were a lot of situations where we failed to complete our attacks." Slovenia defeated defending VNL and Olympic champion France 3-1 in Thursday's other quarterfinal.
Japan Today
a day ago
- Japan Today
Swiatek cruises, Osaka battles, Bouchard says goodbye in Montreal
Canadian Eugenie Bouchard talks to fans after falling to Belinda Bencic at the WTA Canadian Open in what Bouchard says is the last match of her WTA career Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek cruised, Naomi Osaka battled through and Canadian Eugenie Bouchard called time on her WTA career with a gutsy second-round loss in Montreal on Wednesday. Switzerland's Belinda Bencic sent Bouchard into retirement with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory -- but not before the Canadian thrilled her hometown fans by seizing an early break in the third set. Spectators were on their feet, trying to will Bouchard to another victory on the heels of her first-round triumph on Monday -- her first WTA win since 2023. But Bencic won five of the last six games to vanquish Bouchard, who had announced earlier in July she would retire after a final appearance in her home tournament. "I think it's so special to play my last match here in Montreal on this court in front of you guys," a teary Bouchard said as she was honored on court after the match. "I remember being a little kid sitting in these stands, hoping and dreaming that I would play on this court one day. "I grew up playing on these courts, and courts all around Montreal and near here, so it feels like such a full circle moment to finish my career here." Bouchard, who rose as high as fifth in the world rankings, shot to prominence in 2014 when she reached the Wimbledon final and made semi-final runs at the Australian and French Opens. But her career was hindered by injuries, including a concussion suffered in a locker room slip at the 2015 US Open and a shoulder injury that required surgery in 2021. Swiatek sails through There was no drama for Poland's Swiatek, who breezed past Chinese qualifier Guo Hanyu 6-3, 6-1 in her first match since her crushing victory over Amanda Anisimova in the Wimbledon final. Swiatek, seeded second, broke Guo's serve six times to book her spot in the third round. It was much harder going for Japan's four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka, who saved two match points in a 4-6, 7-6 (8/6) 6-3 triumph over Liudmila Samsonova. Osaka, now working with Tomasz Wiktorowski after announcing on Monday she had split with coach Patrick Mouratoglou, surrendered early breaks in each of the first two sets. Wimbledon quarter-finalist Samsonova served for the match at 5-4 in the second and led 40-15. The Russian fired a forehand long on her first match point and on her second a lackluster drop shot effort gave Osaka an opening and the Japanese star pounced. Samsonova's double fault on break point allowed Osaka to level the set, and after storming back from 5-2 down in the tiebreaker to force a third set Osaka took control early, breaking Samsonova twice on the way to a 4-1 lead. "She definitely came out really hard and, for me, I was definitely overwhelmed and I didn't know if I should also be hitting winners," Osaka said. "After a while I just tried to keep the ball in court." Jessica Pegula, the two-time defending champion and third seed, saved five set points in the opening set on the way to a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Maria Sakkari of Greece. Australian Open champion Madison Keys, the sixth seed, opened her campaign with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Laura Siegemund, avenging a third-round loss to the German at Wimbledon. © 2025 AFP
