Gout Gout with fans at the national athletics championships in Perth.

Gout Gout has become a fan favourite wherever he competes.

If anyone needed convincing about the existence of the so-called “Gout Gout effect”, perhaps their doubts were erased on Thursday night.

 

For the second time in two weeks, the 17-year-old held a massive crowd of spectators captivated under his spell.

 

Competing in the U20 100m final at the Australian Athletics Championships in Perth, Gout provided his audience with a breathtaking spectacle, running the blue-riband event in under 10 seconds.

 

Sadly, his effort of 9.99 seconds was wind-assisted (+2.6m/s), meaning it will not stand as an official personal best.

 

Gout stopped the clock in the same time two hours earlier, also with the aid of an illegal tailwind (+3.5m/s).

 

But the presence of an unfriendly gust didn’t detract from the stunning display of sprinting Gout produced that left those in the grandstand awestruck.

 

Gout Gout competing at the national championships.

Gout twice ran under 10 seconds for the 100m with the assistance of an illegal tailwind at the national titles. (Getty Images: Cameron Spencer)

You could hear a pin drop when it was time for Gout to slide into his starting blocks, as was the case at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne almost a fortnight ago.

 

On that occasion, Gout fell agonisingly short of victory in the open-aged 200m, with Lachlan Kennedy pipping his fellow Queenslander by 0.04 of a second (20.26 to 20.30).

 

Gout didn’t lose any admirers, with a Perth-based legion of fans trekking to the WA Athletics Stadium on Thursday to catch a glimpse of a sprinting talent who has already attracted worldwide attention.

 

His youngest supporters were particularly enthralled, as they clamoured for the chance of getting a selfie with their hero once the dust had settled following the 100m final.

 

Gout a boon for athletics in Australia

Gout’s performances went viral last year and he added to his aura when he broke Peter Norman’s long-standing national 200m record as a 16-year-old in December with a time of 20.04.

 

That unfairly sent comparisons to Usain Bolt into overdrive, as Gout had run a quicker time for the 200m than the Jamaican legend had at the same age.

 

Gout’s feet are firmly on the ground, though, courtesy of a strong family unit and the wise guidance of his coach Di Sheppard and manager James Templeton.

 

You could see the tight bond Gout shares with Sheppard and Templeton on Thursday night, when he made a beeline to embrace both immediately after his media commitments had concluded.

 

Gout Gout with his coach Di Sheppard.

Gout (right) is congratulated by his coach Di Sheppard after his win on Thursday night. (Getty Images: Cameron Spencer)

Governing body Australian Athletics (AA) is mindful of Gout’s reach, having intelligently used the Ipswich Grammar School student as part of its marketing strategies.

 

He was pivotal to AA securing live free-to-air coverage of the Maurie Plant Meet on the Seven Network, with a strong TV audience tuning in to watch the event.

 

Gout’s emergence has come at a time when athletics is riding a wave of success in Australia.

 

At the Paris Olympics, Australia claimed seven medals, including Nina Kennedy’s gold in the pole vault, while it managed 14 podium finishes at last year’s World U20 Athletics Championships in Lima.

 

Gout was among the medallists in Lima, winning silver in the 200m.

 

He’s appreciative of the public display of love athletics is enjoying, even if he’s too humble to admit it has much to do with his exploits on the track.

 

“This is what Australian athletics needs,” Gout told reporters after the U20 100m final in Perth.

 

“This is what we wake up in the morning for. I couldn’t ask for anything better.

 

“The great crowds and everyone getting around. It’s great. Hopefully, we can get a lot more people.”

 

With the “Gout Gout effect” set to go up a few notches in the coming years, athletics in Australia should get used to the attention.

 

Get a morning news briefing in your inbox

Subscribe to our ABC NewsMail bringing you breaking news from overnight, plus a heads-up on the stories that will shape your day.

Your information is being handled in accordance with the ABC Privacy Collection Statement.

 

 

 

 

 

Keely Hodgkinson is set to make her return after a lengthy injury

The British track star won gold at the Olympic Games in Paris last summer

Hodgkinson plans to compete at the Diamond League in Stockholm in June

Keely Hodgkinson plans to make her comeback from injury at the Stockholm Diamond League meeting in June, in what will be her first race since winning Olympic gold last summer.

 

The British 800 metres star tore her hamstring in February, ruling her out of her own Keely Klassic event, as well as the European and World Indoor Championships.

 

 

However, Hodgkinson was back running on the track this week at a training camp in Potchefstroom, South Africa.

 

Mail Sport understands the 23-year-old now hopes to make her racing return at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium on June 15, putting her firmly on course for the World Championships in September.

 

‘Eight weeks after my hamstring tear we did our first track session back in spikes,’ Hodgkinson wrote on Instagram. ‘Lots of rehab later and with much more to progress, happy to be back.’

 

After Stockholm, Hodgkinson is down to compete at the Prefontaine Classic – the Eugene Diamond League event – on July 5. There, she will face Tsige Duguma and Mary Moraa, who claimed silver and bronze behind her in the Olympic 800m final in Paris.

 

 

 

Tottenham Hotspur have had a poor season, that much is absolutely clear.

 

Indeed, Spurs sit in the bottom-half of the Premier League table, and Ange Postecoglou is under serious pressure.

 

A number of Tottenham players have underperformed this season and there have been a number of fingers pointed.

 

However, it hasn’t all been doom and gloom for Tottenham this season, there have been some players who are bright sparks.

 

Archie Gray has been praised for his performances this season, while, speaking on his podcast, Kyle Walker has now praised Djed Spence for his performances this season.

 

 

Kyle Walker praises Djed Spence

Walker spoke about Spence after the Spurs star named Walker as one of his idols on Rio Ferdinand’s podcast recently.

 

Walker says that the £20m man has done fantastically well this season, claiming that he’s been unlucky to not get an England call up recently.

 

“From hearing it from, you know, your fellow footballing, you know, players that you’ve, you know, that they look up to you, obviously, I think personally from me coming back to him on his career, again, you know, he’s had a few setbacks from coming back from obviously flying at Nottingham Forest, signing for Tottenham, then going out on loan. Some people are forward, but I think this season especially, he’s played out of position at times with Tottenham’s, you know, injury crisis. Yeah,” Walker said.

 

“And he’s kind of, yeah, he’s just took it in his stride. And I seen him actually play at Nottingham Forest. And I thought this, you know, this one’s going to be a good one.

 

“And you can see a Premier League team snapping him up. Did I know it would be my old team? No.

 

“But I think that he’s doing fantastically well this season, probably unlucky not to get a senior call up to the England team. But if he was there, probably have took my space. So just hold off for, you know, five more games.”

 

Djed Spence’s England hopes analysed

Walker says that Spence was unlucky to not get an England call up, and it is interesting to consider the full-back’s path into Thomas Tuchel’s side.

 

Unfortunately, for Spence, he’s playing in a role where there is a ton of competition at the moment as England continue to produce quality right-backs.

 

England’s right-back optionsTrent Alexander-ArnoldReece JamesKyle WalkerTino Livramento

Of course, as Walker says, Spence has also done a job at left-back this season, but, even in that spot, the path isn’t very clear right now.

 

England’s left-back optionsLuke ShawLewis HallTyrick MitchellMyles Lewis-Skelly

If Spence continues playing well, he may well work his way into consideration for the England squad, but given how much quality is ahead of him, the Spurs star does face an uphill battle here.

 

Sha’Carri Richardson and Christian Coleman will be hoping for an iconic 2025 season together. Credit: Imago.

Sha’Carri Richardson’s relationship with boyfriend and fellow sprinter Christian Coleman is one of the slow-burn romances in Track and Field.

Olympic silver medalist Sha’Carri Richardson and boyfriend Christian Coleman have an amazing opportunity to potentially team up for Team USA at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

 

The Summer Games will be held on home soil for the sprint couple, who have a chance to take to the track together following a groundbreaking announcement by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

 

PAY ATTENTION: Stay updated with the Latest Sports News from Pulse Sports.

 

Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy reveals why Mohammed Bajaber is his kind of player

Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy reveals why Mohammed Bajaber is his kind of player

 

Christian Coleman and Sha’Carri Richardson are track’s power couple

For the first time in its history, the Olympic Games are poised to have a 4×100m mixed relay.

 

According to Olympics.com, this follows an approval by the Executive Board of the IOC on April 9.

 

This means that male and female sprinters will take to the track as part of the same race.

 

While mixed relays have been around, with some tested at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, this is the first time that male and female sprinters will get to line up against one another in the 4×100m.

 

Michael Olunga: 3 reasons Harambee Stars captain scores freely for Al Duhail but less frequenty for Kenya

 

Richardson’s And Coleman’s History For Team USA

Gabby Thomas on what Sha’Carri Richardson brings to their rivalry

Sha’Carri Richardson and Gabby Thomas during 4x100m relay final at 2023 World Championships in Budapest Gabby Thomas on what Sha’Carri Richardson brings to their rivalry

The event is especially Richardson’s and Coleman’s event.

 

In 2023, Richardson and Coleman lined up for Team USA at the World Athletics Championships.

 

Richardson teamed up with 200m Olympic champion Gabby Thomas, Twanisha Terry, and Tamari Davis to deliver gold for the USA.

 

Richardson and Coleman could take their love story to the track if the 2028 Olympic trials go their way and they both manage to secure an opportunity to represent Team USA.

 

The couple are gearing up for an action-packed season, expected to have the same season opener at the Tom Jones Invitational on April 19.

 

Richardson is looking to defend her world title at the 2025 World Athletics Championships against the likes of Julien Alfred, while Coleman is looking to reclaim his spot in the men’s sprint scene against the likes of Noah Lyles.

Before lining up in Perth on Thursday night, Australian schoolboy sprint star Gout Gout had never surpassed the enchanted 10-second mark in the 100-meter race. Then, in two hours, the 17-year-old broke the barrier twice. However, on both occasions, he was helped by a breeze that was too strong to be permitted on the exciting opening night of the Australian athletics championships.

In the under-20 heats, Gout clocked 9.99 seconds with a wind of +3.5 metres per second at his back

With the help of a wind speed of +2.6 meters per second, the Ipswich product once more stopped the clock at 9.99 in the final. The wind gauge had recorded a valid wind reading of +1.4 metres per second in the under-20 women’s 100m heats just a few minutes before Gout’s heat. A few minutes prior to the men’s final, the wind gauge once more gave a reading of +1.4 for the under-20 women’s final, as fate would have it on a cruel night.

After the final, Gout remarked, “It’s frustrating.” However, you are powerless over things that are beyond your control, and the wind is undoubtedly beyond your grasp. All you need to do is figure out whether to run with it or against it. Gout flung his arms in the air, pounded his chest, and let out a jubilant roar when he looked at the clock after the final and saw the numbers 9.99 for the second time that night.

Twenty or so seconds later, it dawned on the teen superstar and the wide-eyed thousands watching on that he’d again been dudded by wind.

“I saw the clock, I saw it was another sub-10, I was happy, national champion,” remarked Gout. He saved his energy for the climax by jogging the final 20 meters in the heat. In the final, he never gave up and dipped at the line, but the Fremantle Doctor ruined the celebration once more. “It doesn’t feel very special,” Gout remarked after his heat broke the 10-second mark. “I mean, if you want to advance, you need to do these things. Sub-10 [in my career] was unavoidable.

Only one Australian in history has broken the iconic 10-second barrier in legal conditions.

 

Patrick Johnson clocked 9.93 with a wind of +1.8 metres per second in Japan in 2003.

In 2021, six months before reaching the semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympics, Rohan Browning clocked 9.96 in Wollongong, helped by an illegal wind of +3.3. Gout will compete in the open division in his pet 200m event at the national championships. His heat is scheduled for 12.45pm Sunday Perth time and the final 3pm. He is set for a rematch with fellow Queenslander Lachlan Kennedy — the 21-year-old who trumped him by four hundredths of a second in Melbourne late last month. Athletics Gout Gout

 

 

Kishane Thompson, far right, came within a few thousandths of a second from beating Noah Lyles (centre) in the Olympic 100m final in Paris (Andrej ISAKOVIC)

Kishane Thompson, far right, came within a few thousandths of a second from beating Noah Lyles (centre) in the Olympic 100m final in Paris (Andrej ISAKOVIC) More

Jamaican sprint star Kishane Thompson has told AFP he sees a big margin for improvement after the “major stepping stone” of his surprise Olympic 100 metres silver medal in Paris last year.

 

The 23-year-old, who was little known coming into 2024, came so close to beating Noah Lyles that several broadcasters called it for the Jamaican before the American was finally awarded first place by 0.005 seconds.

 

 

“It’s gone and passed,” Thompson said in an interview. “I can’t look back. I mean, I can reflect on my mistakes. I know what I could have done better, what I’ve done wrong, but it doesn’t help if I’m going to be angry.

 

“I’ve just got to accept it and move on. It’s forward moving from here. I should say it was a great year.”

 

Thompson finished the year as the world’s fastest over 100m in 9.77sec, set at the Jamaican championships — and with that unexpected Olympic medal.

 

“Honestly, it’s a big stepping stone. It has a lot to do with my progress to being a better person and a better athlete,” he said.

 

 

Thompson spoke to AFP after a morning training session at Stadium East in Kingston with his MVP Track and Field Club teammates, including two-time women’s world 200m champion Shericka Jackson, overseen by highly successful coach Stephen Francis.

 

He has changed his early season preparations this year, running two indoor 60m races, including a trip to the Kazakh capital Astana in January where he manoeuvred his tall frame to victory.

 

So with a strong winter behind him and free of injury heading into the outdoor season, would Thompson describe his preparations as ideal?

 

“It’s not perfect, the only perfection that I can see is me improving. If it’s perfect, you don’t have any room for improvement,” he said.

 

 

“So that’s a thing that I love about it. If it’s perfect, it means it has reached its peak. For me, you know, it’s always about bettering my best.”

 

Thompson’s legendary compatriot Usain Bolt set the 100m world record of 9.58sec 16 years ago, but the young man trying to follow in his footsteps said he won’t be setting himself a time to beat.

 

“I won’t think about times. I mean, the times are going to come once I listen to my coach’s instructions and do, I won’t say, the perfect race, but the best race at this given moment in my life,” he said.

 

His sights are fixed on the World Championships in Tokyo in September — and a chance to topple Lyles this time.

 

“Japan is the goal where everyone is going for the goal, you know? So that’s the aim,” he said.

 

 

 

 

Adidas kingpin Spencer Nel, the man who spearheaded the juggernaut brand’s successful pursuit of Gout Gout’s prized signature, was seated in the stands at Moscow’s 2013 world championships when Usain Bolt pretended to pop up an umbrella.

 

Nowadays, when Adidas’ long-time track and field marketing boss finds himself reminiscing on the Jamaican legend’s game of charades behind the blocks, an impromptu moment of theatre ahead of the 100-metre final, he thinks of Gout.

 

“It started raining right before the race was about to go and he pretended to open an umbrella,” Nel recalled in an interview with Wide World of Sports.

 

 

“That is something you cannot teach an athlete. That’s just natural.

 

You may also like

“And I see that in Gout.”

 

The schoolboy’s speed is frightening, and his personality priceless.

 

Both will be on show when he runs at the Australian championships in Perth this week, contesting the under-20 division in the 100m and the open field in his pet 200m event.

 

Usain Bolt mimes using an umbrella as rain tumbles ahead of the 100m final at the 2013 world athletics championships in Moscow.

Usain Bolt mimes using an umbrella as rain tumbles ahead of the 100m final at the 2013 world athletics championships in Moscow. Getty

Cheery, charming, cool, funny, popular, measured, respectful, talkative, articulate, ambitious and, of course, precociously fast, Gout is marketing gold.

 

The moment he bursts over the finish line in the 100m or 200m at the national championships, another race will kick off — the race between a horde of photographers to find the best position possible, every one of them clicking their cameras furiously.

 

Of course, if Lachie Kennedy again triumphs in the long sprint, as he did in Melbourne late last month, snappers will be scrambling to capture the 21-year-old’s reaction.

 

But even if Gout is edged out, every one of the snappers will want a piece of him, and going by the scenes in Melbourne, the teen sensation will still lap up the limelight.

 

He’s left a striking impression on Sandy McGregor, so much so that the big-money businessman, the majority owner of champion Melbourne Cup racehorse Prince Of Penzance, threw money at him to lure him in for this year’s Stawell Gift.

 

“He’s electric. His celebrations are electric,” McGregor said.

 

“He is amazing theatre,” said John Steffensen, the champion Aussie sprinter.

 

“He is the new toy.”

 

Gout Gout.

Gout Gout gestures down the barrel of a camera after finishing second in the 200m at Melbourne’s Maurie Plant Meet. Getty

Nel has worked at Adidas for 28 years. He’s been the track and field marketing boss for 25 of those years. David Rudisha, Tyson Gay, Yohan Blake, Noah Lyles, Haile Gebrselassie, Allyson Felix and Australia’s much-loved Sally Pearson are among the crème de la crème of the talent he has signed.

 

He took two shots at signing Bolt seven years apart. Puma came up trumps on both occasions: in 2003 when he was 16, and in 2010.

 

Nel first met Gout in person at the world junior championships in Peru last August, although he’d been in negotiations with the teen prodigy and his camp for a while earlier.

 

A couple of months after the world juniors, when Gout was still 16, a multimillion-dollar contract was signed.

 

Then in December, still a few weeks shy of his 17th birthday, he clocked 20.04 seconds in a 200m in Brisbane. In doing so, he took down the iconic open Australian record set by Peter Norman at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, and bettered the fastest time run by Bolt at the same age.

 

Nel has signed a small number of 16-year-olds in his 25 years in the job, but no one any younger.

 

Gout Gout.

Gout Gout is a crowd favourite. Getty

Asking Nel what makes Gout so attractive in the marketing world is a bit like asking someone why they’d want to drive a bright red, shiny Ferrari.

 

In saying that, this correspondent asked the Adidas heavy-hitter exactly that question and the answer he gave was fascinating.

 

“First and foremost, he is a prodigious talent. First and foremost, that is what you look for when you’re scouting for that next generation. The talent needs to be there, which it clearly is in abundance [with Gout],” Nel said.

 

“Every now and again there’s a prodigious talent that comes to the fore, so of course you’re interested and you try to get them to represent your brand.

 

“And then you inadvertently get to spend time with the athlete and you see how they interact with other individuals, [like] flight staff and people picking them up and hotel staff, and then you’re in the warm-up area and you see how an athlete interacts with other athletes and with his or her coach, and that gives you an inkling as to their personality.

 

“Gout is such a laidback individual and he’s very respectful. You observe and you get an impression of an athlete in different scenarios, and you think, ‘This is someone we want to be associated with as a brand’. Gout has certainly checked all of those boxes.

 

Spencer Nel, Adidas’ head of track and field marketing, pictured with Olympic athletes (from left to right) David Rudisha, Michael Tinsley and Tony McQuay in 2014.

Spencer Nel (far right), Adidas’ track and field marketing boss, pictured with Olympic athletes (from left to right) David Rudisha, Michael Tinsley and Tony McQuay in 2014. Getty

“There was a tonne of media hype around him [at Melbourne’s Maurie Plant Meet], and I thought on that particular day there was probably the biggest media interest around him thus far. I thought he handled it really well. He remained calm. He was disappointed, but was still reacting to the crowd and giving kids the time for autographs and photographs, and he congratulated Kennedy.”

 

A day out from the Maurie Plant Meet, World Athletics posted a series of short clips on Instagram of Gout limbering up.

 

He had his headphones on and he was grooving to the beat, springing around on the Lakeside Stadium track in his Adidas kit, greyish-green in colour.

 

He was soon galloping around topless, his golden necklace bouncing on his chest.

 

And whenever he’d peer into the camera tracking his every move, he’d show off his big, pearly whites, or make the peace sign, or give a double thumbs up, or do nothing and still look impossibly cool.

 

Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo, the winner of 200m gold in Paris, whisked by before leaving for the day.

 

“See you tomorrow, man,” Gout quipped.

 

 

The show-stopping Gout Gout.

Gout Gout, 16 at the time, erupts in celebration after breaking the open 200m Australian record set by Peter Norman at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Getty

Like many of the clips of Gout that have lit up social media, the World Athletics post reeled in tens of thousands of views and likes.

 

“He is very marketable,” Nel says, “and as a brand we are already working on a positioning for him as to where he fits in our portfolio.”

 

In January, in the two weeks Gout spent in Florida with Lyles, he featured in his first Adidas shoot.

 

And he made a guest appearance on Lyles’ Beyond the Records podcast. He told him he’d be coming for his crown at September’s Tokyo world championships, leaving the Olympic 100m champion both stunned and exhilarated.

 

“We’ve got a 17-year-old who’s already signed and now we’re starting this journey,” Nel said.

 

“Can you imagine in 10 years from now what kind of a journey we will have been able to capture as a brand having lived these moments with him?

 

“When somebody like this comes along, it’s special.”