Gout breaks record in podium finish as Aussies collect four silvers
By Iain Payten
A slow start denied Gout Gout a gold medal in the 200m, but the teenage sprint sensation still walked away with silver, a new national under-18 record and, at the age of 16, another shot at the junior world championships in two years’ time.
Gout’s podium finish came on a day of silver medal success for Australia’s rising star athletes at the World Athletics under-20 championships in Lima, Peru.
Backing up after competing at the Paris Olympics, Torrie Lewis also claimed a silver and a new PB in the 200m and Claudia Hollingsworth and Peyton Craig also stood on the second step of the podium after silver-medal runs in the 800m.
Delta Amidzovski added a bronze in the 100m hurdles to go with her gold medal in the long jump, and 15-year-old Mason McGroder won a bronze in the long jump, showing the future of Australia athletics is ever-improving as Brisbane 2032 looms on the horizon.
Gout was one of the favourites going into the men’s 200m after an eye-catching heat win, which saw him win by a mile and reignite the viral fame that has seen the Queenslander become known around the world.
But things didn’t exactly go to plan in the 200m final, with Gout falling well behind in the opening 100m following a slow start. He was fifth as the runners came into the straight and two metres behind South African Bayana Walaza in the lead.
With a powerful long stride, Gout’s strength is his finish and in the last 60 metres he climbed through the field and moved into second. Another couple of metres would have seen him pass Walaza, but the run came too late and the South African held on for gold in 20.54s. It gave Walaza the 100m-200m double in Lima.
Gout still finished in a personal best time of 20.60, lowering his own national under-18 record and further highlighting his enormous potential. At the age of 16, Gout is two years younger than Walaza and he will still be eligible to run at the World Athletics under-20s championship in 2026 in Eugene, Oregon.
Fellow Australian Zach Della Rocca finished sixth.
“I feel really relieved after a long two weeks of being in Lima,” Gout said. “I’ve been training, grinding and waiting patiently for this moment to happen. Now that it’s done, I’m really glad and ready to rest up for the relay tomorrow.”
Lewis also cemented her status as Australia’s most promising young female sprinter by winning silver in a thrilling 200m final.
Lewis and Adaejah Hodge, from the British Virgin Islands, surged ahead of the field on the turn and were neck-and-neck in the third 50m. But Hodge was able to just pull ahead of Lewis in the final stages and win in 22.74 seconds. Lewis lowered her personal best time to 22.88s.
“I’m just so glad I came away with a PB. It’s all I wanted and there is nothing better I could have done,” Lewis said.
“To finally finish off my junior career; this will probably be my last race running as a junior, specifically in an individual event. I’ve never been on a podium of this magnitude and this is the first time having a flag around myself.”
Aussie Jessica Milat also posted a PB of 23.21s in fourth.
Earlier, Hollingsworth, 19, claimed silver in the women’s 800m, where she paced her run well and drew level with leader Sarah Moraa with 70 metres left. But the Kenyan had the legs to push on and Hollingsworth finished in second in 2:00.87s.
Craig, who made the Olympic semi-finals in Paris, ran a well-paced race in the men’s 800m, but the 19-year-old couldn’t overhaul Ethiopian General Ayansa. Craig ran a 1:1.46.95.
For the latest results, news and analysis from the Paris Paralympics sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.