Australian teenager Gout Gout stunned with a spectacular performance at the World Athletics Championship in Tokyo by qualifying for the semi-finals of the 200 meters.
The 17-year-old drew comparisons to the legendary runner Usain Bolt during his junior career with a time of 20.23 seconds in the fifth of six heats. His performance got the sprinter third place in the heat, which was one of the quickest of the night, qualifying him for the 24-man semi-finals event.
Australian Teenager at the World Athletics Championship
The teenager also beat Israel's Blessing Akwasi Afrifah, who recorded a personal best time of under 20 seconds, in his heat, which was won by Jamaica's Bryan Levell with 19.84 seconds. Gout was pressured at the bend, but he was able to maintain his ground comfortably, capping his race by shaking the hand of every fellow runner on the track.
One commentator, Tamsyn Manou, said that Gout was under a lot of pressure as he is only 17 years old and should be at school. However, he is not at the opening round of the world championships 200m and has qualified for the semi-finals, according to Fox Sports.
After the race, Gout said that it was a great experience being able to run against the "big dogs," adding that he was excited for more. He said it was great to know that he will be going up against the top 24 runners in the world.
Gout acknowledged that he was the youngest athlete on the track, describing himself as a "young bull trying to get into the final." The Australian teenager also said that his goal was to get a time of under 20 seconds in the final.
Qualifying for the Semi-Finals of the 200m
At the start of the race, the 17-year-old started slowly, and Levell quickly caught him on his inside. He later acknowledged that the start was not his strong suit, but noted that once he gets into running, he can give his best performance, The Guardian reported.
Another achievement for Australia is that Torrie Lewis also progressed to the semi-finals in the women's event. Other athletes from the country were not so lucky, as Aidan Murphy and Calab Law failed to score sufficient times.
Two months before Gout's stunning performance in Tokyo, he appeared in an under-23 event at the Monaco Diamond League, where he secured a time of 20.10 seconds. A few weeks before that, he secured a career-best 20.02 seconds, which secured him his World Championship standard for Australian sprinters at the distance, as per Forbes.
