Schoolboy sensation Gout Gout has kept his cool on his first serious outing against the sprinting big dogs, easing into the semi-finals of the men’s 200m at the world championships.
The 17-year-old made a slowish start in his heat on Wednesday night but found his rhythm in the straight to finish third in 20.23 seconds.
Gout will probably need to dip under the 20-second barrier – something no Australian has done before – if he’s to advance to Friday’s final.
But the good news is he’s confident there’s plenty more to give.
Jamaican Bryan Levell won Gout’s heat in the quickest overall qualifying time of 19.84, while big guns Noah Lyles, Kenny Bednarek and reigning Olympic champ Letsile Tebogo from Botswana also got through with ease.
‘I just felt that in my heat everyone wasn’t up against me, apart from the top two,’ said Gout.
Gout Gout came third in his 200m heat in Tokyo on Wednesday night
At just 17, the Queenslander is the youngest male to ever be selected for Australia at the World Championships
‘So I just hit cruise control, in the last 50, last 30. That’s what I needed.
‘Obviously there’s going to be expectation wherever I go.
‘So it is what it is and I just go out there and do my thing.’
High on the agenda for Gout and his coach Di Sheppard in the next 24 hours will be doing some work on his start.
‘The starts obviously are not my strong suit, but as soon as I get into running, I’m chilling,’ he said.
But overall, it was a successful debut outing at the National Stadium, with the legendary Usain Bolt watching on from the stands.
‘It’s great to be out here competing on the world stage,’ said Gout, whose junior exploits have already drawn comparisons to Bolt.
‘I’m just happy, happy to be here, and can’t wait for the semi.
Gout knows he has to work on his starts for the semi-final if he’s going to progress further through the ranks in Tokyo
Usain Bolt (pictured in yellow) was on hand to watch the men’s 200m heats
‘It’s great experience, running against the big dogs and I’m just excited for more.’
Gout’s effort was better than Bolt’s first appearance at a top-level adult championships.
The Jamaican ran a disappointing 21.05 seconds at the 2004 Olympics while carrying a leg injury and was eliminated in the first round of heats.
Gout is the youngest man in the 200m field in Tokyo and the youngest man ever to be selected in an Australian team at a world athletics championships.
He set the Australian record of 20.02 earlier this year.
Australians Calab Law and Aidan Murphy were eliminated.
Torrie Lewis (22.56) stripped 0.13 off her personal best, finishing second in the last of six women’s 200m heats to power into the semis on Thursday.
Earlier in the championships, the 20-year-old Queenslander broke her own Australian 100m record with a time of 11.08 in the opening round, but was bitterly disappointed at then being eliminated in the semis.
Countrywomen Mia Gross and Kristie Edwards were run out in the women’s 200m heats.
Anavia Battle topped the qualifying sheets with 22.07 ahead of fellow American and 100m gold medallist Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (22.24), who is chasing the sprint double in Tokyo.
Sydneysider Cameron McEntyre hurled a career-best 83.03m, the biggest throw ever by an Australian man at a world championships, to qualify for the 12-man javelin final in 11th place.
Coached by his brother Angus, the delighted 26-year-old McEntyre said: ‘It’s been a long time coming, a throw like that, and I’m just so happy I could do it tonight.’
Australian Connor Murphy (16.58m) was 16th overall in men’s triple jump qualifying, with only the top 14 advancing.
