Australian teenage sprint sensation Gout Gout made a thrilling debut at the historic Stawell Gift, powering into the semi-finals with a blistering run.
The 17-year-old delivered an eye-catching 12.31-second sprint over the 120m distance.
While Gout’s time wasn’t the fastest of the heats—John Evans laid down the marker with a scorching 12.13.
Fresh from breaking the 10-second barrier twice at the Australian Athletics Championships in Perth—though both runs were wind-assisted and not legal for record purposes—Gout’s performance at Stawell only adds to the hype surrounding his meteoric rise.
“It definitely feels great,” Gout told Nine News, after his heat.
“This is my first time competing on a race track. It feels great, the run was great. I can’t wait for the semis and the finals.”
With Stawell’s semifinal set for 12:43pm on Monday, Gout looks ready to unleash another jaw-dropping performance. If he advances, he’ll have just under two hours to recover before the final at 2:20pm—an exciting sprint doubleheader that promises fireworks.
Lachlan Kennedy, also made a powerful statement, clocking 12.26 to qualify as the third fastest semifinalist despite starting a quarter of a metre behind the rest of his heat.
“It’s a little bit daunting when they start so far in front of you,” Kennedy said after his race.
“You have to chase them all down. It is incredible. I’m going to give it all I’ve got on Monday.”
Defending champion Jack Lacey also kept his campaign alive with a time of 12.40 in a drama-filled heat that featured two false starts by rivals.
A victory at the Stawell Gift would be a major feather in his cap—and a chilling warning to his rivals ahead of the World Championships in September, where he is expected to compete against global sprinting royalty including Olympic champion Noah Lyles and Botswana’s rising star Letsile Tebogo.