Sprint sensation Gout Gout has revealed that he won’t be able to compete until next year after picking up a serious injury to his hamstring.
The 18-year-old record-breaker announced the news on social media on Thursday and told his fans the complaint will keep him out of the event he planned to skip the Commonwealth Games for.
‘Unfortunately I suffered an injury to my left hamstring last night at training in Brisbane,’ Gout wrote.
‘I received this morning the MRI report, unfortunately the news is not good and I will not be able to compete in Eugene at the World U20 Championships next month.’
Gout then said the doctor’s comments on the MRI scan showed he has a ‘partial thickness tear’ of the hamstring and the tendon has been partially disrupted for more than eight centimetres in length.
It amounts to a grade 3C injury according to the British Athletics Muscle Injury Classification system, which means he is carrying a severe and extensive tear.
Gout Gout (pictured) has revealed a serious hamstring injury will keep him out of competition until next year
The teen sensation (pictured running against Olympic champion Noah Lyles) will be forced to miss the Under-20 World Championships, where he would have been a great chance of winning the 200m
Gout suffered a partial hamstring tear and damage to a tendon in training on Wednesday night
‘I’m very disappointed but I have no other possibility but to accept the situation,’ Gout continued.
‘I understand this is part of athletics.
‘My focus now will be on my rehab in the coming weeks and months and ensuring I come back in 2027 better and stronger and faster.’
Gout was regarded as a great chance of winning the 200m sprint at the championships in Oregon, which start on August 5.
The Queenslander became a world record holder when he ran 19.67 seconds in the 200m at the national championships in Sydney in April.
That made him the first Australian to legally break the 20-second mark over the distance.
By doing so, Gout took .02 off the previous under-20 world record, set by US sprinter Erriyon Knighton in 2022.
He also blitzed Jamaican legend Usain Bolt’s best under-20 time of 19.93, set in 2004.
Gout stunned the athletics world in April last year when he ran the 100m in 9.99 seconds, albeit with an illegal tailwind.
He scored a disappointing sixth place in his debut against the world’s best runners at the Diamond League meet in Oslo in June.
However, he stormed back from that to finish a 150m race in 14.96 seconds to finish behind Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles on June 16.
