Australian teenage sprint sensation compared to Usain Bolt fails to fire in Melbourne
Gout Gout, who set fastest time ever by a 16-year-old to earn comparisons with Jamaican legend, is beaten to 200m title by compatriot
Lachlan Kennedy beat teenage sprint sensation Gout Gout for the second year in a row at Australia’s leading one-day athletics meet in Melbourne on Saturday before setting his sights on winning gold at this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Kennedy crossed the line in 20.38 seconds in the 200m at the Maurie Plant meet to pip the 18-year-old by 0.05 seconds at Lakeside Stadium.
Gout Gout burst on the scene at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships in 2024, when he set an Australian record of 20.04 in the 200m to lower Peter Norman’s mark, which had stood since the 1968 Olympic Games.
He has since gone quicker, establishing a record of 20.02 in June last year, the quickest time ever by a 16-year-old, earning him comparisons with Usain Bolt.
But he failed to fire on Saturday as rain fell.
Kennedy, 22, also won the 100m earlier in 10.03, a race Gout skipped.