- Sprint sensation was angry about being beaten by Lachlan Kennedy
- 10,000 people showed up to watch Gout Gout race over the weekend
Despite his cool exterior, Aussie teenage sprinting prodigy Gout Gout was ‘angry’ about being upstaged by Lachlan Kennedy on his senior sprint debut in the 200m at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne, his coach has revealed.
Kennedy, 21, spoiled the party on Saturday night in front of a capacity crowd of 10,000 by just beating Gout to the finish line in a personal best of 20.26 seconds.
Gout and Kennedy were all smiles following the race, embracing and congratulating each other.
However, Gout’s coach Di Sheppard says the youngster was hiding his real feelings.
‘I know he’s quite angry about that,’ Sheppard told the ABC.
‘Everything we’ve done is a step forward, it’s all about learning how to cope with this environment as well, so I think he’s doing a great job.
Gout Gout was privately angry about being upstaged by Lachlan Kennedy after he was just pipped to the line in a 200m sprint on the weekend
Kennedy claimed the Peter Norman Memorial in 20.26 seconds, with Gout finishing a very close second in 20.30
‘Just remember he’s a 17-year-old boy … and he’s got a bright future.’
Gout’s manager, James Templeton, went a step further, telling Code Sports that the talented teenager was ‘p***ed off’ about the result.
The next instalment of the burgeoning Kennedy-Gout friendly rivalry will come at the Australian championships in Perth in mid-April.
Until now, Gout’s history-making feats – which include breaking the 56-year-old Australian 200m record late last year – have come against fellow junior athletes.
He learnt plenty from his first big outing on the senior stage.
‘That’s what you live for – this environment, the hype, the people, the expectation, the pressure,’ he said.
‘This is sport right. This is what I go to training every day for.’
The Peter Norman Memorial 200m was the closing event of the biggest single night of athletics on Australian soil in years and it lived up to the hype.
10,000 people showed up to the venue to watch the action on Saturday night
The runners were held in the blocks for much longer than usual, which only added to the anticipation.
‘The experience is second to none,’ said Gout.
‘This is something you can only get from a big meet, a Continental Gold meet, world championships and Olympics.
‘Getting more runs like this will be great for me.
‘The silence was definitely crazy, the silence was loud – that’s what they say.’
