An Olympic champ and Gout Gout will run at the same Melbourne meet, but Letsile Tebogo won't rain on the teen phenom's parade
The reigning Olympic champion in the men's 200m, Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, is set to race at the same Melbourne meet as teen Australian sprinting sensation Gout Gout.
But Tebogo is not about to rain on Gout's parade at the Maurie Plant Meet, having committed to racing in the 400m at the March 29 event.
It means the headline act in the 200m, and likely winner, remains Gout, whose soaring global fame reached new heights in December when he clocked 20.04 seconds to break the national record set by Peter Norman at the Mexico City 1968 Olympics.
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On Tuesday, Athletics Australia (AA) unveiled Tebogo, who captured gold in Paris with a time of 19.46 seconds in the 200m, as its marquee international signing for the Lakeside Stadium event.
The man who lured Tebogo, Maurie Plant Meet athlete liaison manager Nic Bideau, is anticipating "a fantastic night of athletics".
Teen Australian sprinting sensation Gout Gout. Getty
"When I first spoke to them [Tebogo and his manager, Federico Rosa] about coming, I asked them what event they want to do ... and immediately they said the 400m. I said, 'That suits us'," Bideau told Wide World of Sports.
"Gout is a young man in his early development, and what we don't want to do is put him under enormous pressure to compete at a level he's not ready for yet. We hope he can be at the world champs later on this year [in Tokyo in September] ... but you don't want people to expect too much of him too early."
Tebogo famously produced a boilover victory against Noah Lyles in the 200m in Paris, denying the US megastar a second gold medal after the American's 100m triumph.
Tebogo won Botswana's first Olympic gold medal in history.
The 21-year-old also contested the men's 4x400m relay in the French capital, anchoring Botswana to silver.
He has a 400m personal best of 44.29 seconds and is set for a showdown in Melbourne with Australia's Reece Holder, who reached the 400m semi-finals at the Paris Games.
Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, the reigning Olympic champion in the men's 200m. Getty
Holder's 400m personal best is 44.53 seconds, which he recorded at the Paris Olympics.
Bideau is expecting this year's Maurie Plant Meet, named in remembrance of the legendary Australian athletics agent, administrator and commentator, to be packed out.
"There's been 6000 at each of the first two episodes of it [the Maurie Plant Meet], but we're hoping we can sell it out. It would be great to get 10,000 and I don't think it's impossible," Bideau said.
"This kid [Gout] has got a lot of people interested to see him, and he's certainly got a lot of publicity and that normally works.
"And now with Tebogo also there, the [men's] world athlete of the year [in 2024], I will be surprised if we don't get more spectators in."
Gout Gout at full flight. Getty
Gout is currently in Clermont, Florida on a two-week training camp with Lyles and the American's coach, Lance Brauman.
The 20.04 that Gout clocked in the 200m in December eclipsed the fastest time run by Jamaican legend Usain Bolt as a 16-year-old, which was 20.13.
Gout then turned 17 on December 29, so the show-stopping Queenslander is now eyeing Bolt's 17-year-old best, 19.93.
In Gout's next competition, the Ipswich-born prodigy will race in the 100m and 200m at the Queensland athletics championships in Brisbane, scheduled for March 13-16.
