World Athletics Championships: Gout Gout, 17, eyes Tokyo test, then school exams
Compared to Usain Bolt, teen sprinter says he hopes to become first Australian to run 200m in under 20 seconds
Australian schoolboy sprinter Gout Gout has said he would consider his first world championships a success if he ran a personal best in the 200m in Tokyo, regardless of where he finishes.
The big-striding 17-year-old earned comparisons with sprinting great Usain Bolt after breaking the long-standing Australian 200m record and running a string of other fast times over the past year.
He improved his 200m record to 20.02 seconds in Ostrava in June and said he was excited about the prospect of coming up against the best in the world at the National Stadium, where the heats start on Wednesday.
“I definitely think PB-ing, regardless of where I come, is definitely a big success,” he told reporters in Tokyo on Monday.
“And hopefully, if I can make it at the semi, that’s even greater. And then if I make it into the final, that’s a big success.”
Despite taking a big step up in Tokyo just a year after running in the world junior championships, Gout said he would not be intimidated.