Rival’s classy message to Gout Gout after season-ending blow
Updated . First published
Among the comments under Gout Gout’s Instagram statement about his season-ending injury is a classy message from American sprint prodigy Tate Taylor, who will likely be a fierce rival of the Australian’s for the next decade.
Gout revealed on Thursday he had withdrawn from the world athletics under-20 championships, taking place in Oregon next month, because of an eight-centimetre hamstring tear he suffered at training in Brisbane on Wednesday.
Gout Gout. Getty
“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 wrote.
“... I’m very disappointed but I have no other possibility but to accept the situation. 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 said he suffered an eight-centimetre tear graded as 3c.
A tear of that severity typically takes several months to recover from.
Under Gout’s Instagram post, Taylor wrote: “Keep faith man hope all is well, much love always and 28 da yr fs [for sure] 💯🔥”
Taylor and Gout are both 18. Gout is the under-20 world record holder in the 200m, having run 19.67 seconds in Sydney in April, and Taylor is second on the list, after clocking 19.75 in Oregon last week.
Gout had chosen not to run at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games to focus on winning gold in the 200 metres at the world under-20 championships.
The Ipswich-born phenom was also locked in for the men’s 4x400m relay at Hayward Field in Eugene.
On June 23, his manager confirmed with nine.com.au that he had withdrawn from a 200m race at the Prefontaine Classic and would be returning home from overseas because of back stiffness.
The plan at that point was to get treatment in Brisbane and then jet out to America for the world under-20 titles – but then he tore his hamstring.
Gout won silver in the 200m at the world under-20 championships in Peru in 2024.
The 2026 world titles were his final chance to claim gold at the junior global championship.
Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt, with whom Gout is compared relentlessly, won gold on home soil in the 200m at the 2002 world under-20 championships.
“Australian Athletics sends our support to Gout Gout as he today announced he will not run in the world athletics under-20 championships in Eugene in the United States in August,” AA high-performance boss Andrew Faichney said in a statement.
“Gout has had a phenomenal couple of years, and he has a long career ahead of him including hopefully making many more Australian teams in the future.
“It’s paramount he has time to recover and rest and return to the track to compete whenever he is ready.
“We also encourage kindness and compassion, as this type of injury is devastating for any athlete, and we all look forward to seeing Gout back on the track competing and doing what he does best.”
In Gout’s latest run, he set a new world under-20 record in a 150m race at the Ostrava Golden Spike in Czechia. He finished third in a race won by Olympic and world champion Noah Lyles.
