Australian teenager Gout Gout lowers his national record in the 200 in his first pro race in Europe
OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (AP) — Gout Gout is 17, he's being compared with Usain Bolt and he has lowered his national record in his first professional race in Europe.
The Australian high school senior improved his own national record when he won the 200 meters at the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava in 20.02 seconds. It's not the fastest he's ever run over the half-lap sprint, but it's gaining him more attention.
Gout posted two wind-assisted times under 20 seconds, clocking 19.84 and 19.98 at the national championship at Perth in April, but neither was considered legal because the wind was above allowable threshholds.
Even without those two sub-20 times, he's still in the top seven all-time for Under-20s, a list that includes Bolt, the great Jamaica sprinter who dominated the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
At age 16 last December, Gout ran 20.04 seconds to win the 200 at the national high school championships and break a 56-year-old national record over that distance set by 1968 Olympic silver medalist Peter Norman.
Running in Lane 6 at Ostrava on Tuesday — the timing made it perfect for Wednesday morning TV news shows back in Australia — Gout finished powerfully to surge past Cuba's Reynier Mena on his inside over the last 30 meters.
'Another national record! Pretty happy with that. It's not a bad first-up in Europe,' he said. 'I've felt stronger in training these last couple of months and I've felt good since I got to Europe last Thursday.'
Gout was born in Ipswich, near Brisbane, in Queensland state. His parents are South Sudanese immigrants who moved to Australia in 2005.
Gout will race again in Europe next month before returning to Australia for some school work and preparation for the world championships in Tokyo in September.
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
‘This is amazing': Panthers celebrate 2nd consecutive Stanley Cup with another parade
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Champagne was swilled and spilled, cigars were smoked and the Stanley Cup was hoisted a few more times, all with about 400,000 people watching. The Florida Panthers are getting pretty good at these parades.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Angels SS Zach Neto will have tests on shoulder after making error, leaving game in 9th inning
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shortstop Zach Neto will have tests on his surgically repaired right shoulder after he made an error and abruptly left the Los Angeles Angels' game against the Boston Red Sox in the ninth inning Tuesday night. Neto bobbled Romy Gonzalez's grounder to short before firing his throw over the head of first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. The Angels' rising star quickly bent over in pain, and he left the game after consulting with the training staff. After the Angels won 3-2 on Christian Moore's 10th-inning homer, Neto said he jammed his right shoulder while sliding headfirst into second on a failed stolen base attempt in the eighth inning. 'I wasn't feeling good (and) probably should have taken myself out of the game,' Neto said. 'But being the competitor that I am, I wanted to try to gut it out. There's a time and place to be a hero, and there's a time and place to get out of the game, and that was probably the time to get out of the game. … It's feeling good (now). I mean, it's not feeling great, but we're going to see how I feel tomorrow morning, and hopefully I come feeling great.' Neto believes he will have an MRI exam on Wednesday. 'When he made that throw, we just didn't like the way it looked, so we took him out for cautionary (reasons),' Angels acting manager Ray Montgomery said. 'We weren't going to let him go back out there after that.' Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. Neto injured his right shoulder last September and underwent surgery that forced him to miss the first three weeks of the season. He has been one of the Angels' best players for the second straight year, batting .278 with 12 homers, 29 RBIs and an .820 OPS. 'There's always a concern with it being the shoulder I just had my surgery on, but I'm going to be hopeful,' Neto said. Los Angeles closer Kenley Jansen escaped the jam created by Neto's error, keeping the game tied 1-1. Marcelo Mayer drove in a run for Boston in the 10th, but Moore walked it off with his second homer in three innings. ___ AP MLB:
Winnipeg Free Press
3 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Canada advances in CONCACAF Gold Cup, beats El Salvador 2-0 on goals by David and Buchanan
HOUSTON (AP) — Jonathan David and Tajon Buchanan scored 2 minutes, 35 seconds apart early in the second half and Canada defeated El Salvador 2-0 on Tuesday night to reach the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals. El Salvador, which was eliminated, finished two men short after Santos Ortíz and Jairo Henríquez were ejected late in the first half. Canada won Group B with seven points and advanced to a quarterfinal against Guatemala on Sunday in Minneapolis, with the winner moving on to a semifinal against the U.S. or Costa Rica. In the other quarterfinals, Mexico meets Saudi Arabia and Panama plays Honduras, both on Saturday in Glendale, Arizona. El Salvador was last in the group with one point and was eliminated, becoming the 14th team not to score a goal in the group stage. Canada coach Jesse Marsch returned from a two-game suspension assessed for his conduct during the CONCACAF Nations League third-place match against the U.S. in March. David scored in the 53rd minute, his Canada record 35th goal in 66 appearances. He took a pass from Mathieu Choinière, turned and beat goalkeeper Mario González to the far post with a diagonal shot from about 15 yards. González had jumped to his left to save David's penalty kick in first-half stoppage time after a foul by Jefferson Valladares on Jacob Shaffelburg. Buchanan scored his eighth goal in the 56th, lifting the ball over González after a feed from Niko Sigur, who had intercepted Diego Flores' pass Ortíz received yellow cards in the 13th and 35th minutes, the second for a lunging tackle from behind on Sigur. Henríquez got a red card in the ninth minute of first-half stoppage time for elbowing Alistair Johnston in the head. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. Ortíz and Henríquez will be suspended when El Salvador starts the third round of World Cup qualifying in September. Honduras defeated Curaçao 2-1 at San Jose, California, on Luis Palma's goal in second-half stoppage time. Panama beat Jamaica 4-1 at Austin, Texas, to win Group C with a 3-0 record, and the Reggae Boyz were eliminated in the group stage for the first time since 2009. Guatemala beat Guadeloupe 3-2 in Houston. ___ AP soccer:
