Wanting to 'put on a show', Gout Gout waves to the crowd in winning run
Updated . First published at
BRISBANE: Ever the showman, teen sprint superstar Gout Gout turned to the crowd in the closing metres of his 100-metre final on Saturday afternoon and waved to his admirers.
The 18-year-old's bid to join the famed sub-10 club will have to continue after he clocked 10.21 seconds running into a +0.5mps headwind in the under-20 final at the Australian junior championships.
But in a fitting end to his junior career on home soil, he won the race in a canter.
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Gout Gout waves to the crowd. Getty
"Just came out here to put on a show for the amazing crowd, so feeling pretty good, and I pulled a couple of the boys through," Gout told reporters.
"Obviously I didn't have the best start. I came out for the W [the win] pretty much, and I guess to put on a show for the people watching.
"The more of a show there is, the more people that's gonna come and watch, and the more people there is, the more pressure, the more pressure, the faster you run.
"So I think putting on a show is definitely great, and obviously these amazing people love athletics and come to watch not just me but everyone else run, which is amazing."
It was hoped Gout would crash through the iconic 10-second barrier – a mark he has still only cracked in illegal wind conditions.
Gout Gout celebrates. Getty
But Wide World of Sports has learned the sprint phenom from Ipswich is feeling zapped in the wake of his heroics over 200m at the national senior championships in Sydney last Sunday, where he clocked 19.67 to break the world under-20 record.
His team say he's not firing on all cylinders, so considerable a toll his run, his celebration and the fanfare took on him physically, mentally and emotionally.
Patrick Johnson and Lachlan Kennedy are the only Australians who've shattered the 10-second barrier legally.
The 9.93 run by Johnson in Japan in 2003 is the national record, while Kennedy, Gout's chief rival, twice clocked 9.96 at the national senior championships last week, which followed a 9.98 in Kenya last year.
"Obviously nothing world-class [this weekend]," Gout said.
"It's about coming here to have a bit of fun after [the senior] nationals, so it's coming out here, pulling through some other boys and putting on a show."
Townsville tearaway Uwezo Lubenda got the best start in the final but Gout reeled him in with about 40m to go and cruised to victory.
With about 20m to go, the $6 million Adidas prodigy turned to the crowd, among which was his huge family, and gave them a wave as if to say: "Thanks for coming to the Gout Gout show."
Gout Gout loves the cameras. Getty
Gout (10.21) led home Sydney sprinter Zavier Peacock (10.35) and Lubenda (10.37).
In his heat on Friday, Gout clocked 10.19. In the semi-finals on Saturday, he ran 10.44 into an awful headwind measuring -2.2mps.
He clocked 9.99 twice in two hours at the national senior championships in Perth last year but in illegal wind conditions. The legal limit is +2.00mps.
He is confident a sub-10 breakthrough is imminent.
"One-hundred per cent," he said.
"I mean, I've done 10 flat in my season opener and that race was a bit rocky.
"So it's definitely time to obviously do it and I'm pretty sure that's coming soon.
"I did good today but it wasn't the best start."
Gout and his coach, Di Sheppard, embrace after the 100m final. Getty
Gout's manager, James Templeton, has locked in a series of overseas races for his superstar protégé.
On June 10 at the Oslo Diamond League meet, he will race a 200m against Botswana's Letsile Tebogo, the gold medallist in the event at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
On June 16 at the Ostrava Golden Spike meet in Czechia, Gout and American megastar Noah Lyles will race over the peculiar 150m distance.
The world-famous teenager will then run another 200m at the prestigious Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon on July 4.
Gout and Lyles, the reigning Olympic gold medallist in the 100m, are both part of the Adidas stable.
Gout travelled to Florida early last year to spend two weeks training with Lyles and the Queenslander is about to do it again.
He is relishing the prospect of racing against Lyles, the winner of the past four world championship 200m titles, in Czechia in June.
"It definitely means a lot knowing I can go up against him," Gout said.
"I mean, the Olympic champion and world champion, multi-time world champion athlete.
"So definitely feels great and it'll definitely up my game, for sure, just versing the best in the world right now. So it's definitely great and it will definitely be pushing me a lot."
