Under-20 World Championships: Gout Gout to Run 200m and 4x400m Relay

Under-20 world championships will feature Australian teen sensation Gout Gout in the 200m and 4x400m relay in Eugene. The Silicon Review reports on the 18-year-old‘s bold plan to emulate Usain Bolt’s World Junior double.

Australian sprint prodigy Gout Gout will take on a bold double at the under-20 world championships in Eugene, Oregon this August, competing in both the 200m and the 4x400m relay as he continues to emulate the career trajectory of eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt .

The 18-year-old, who already holds the under-20 world record in the 200m with a blistering 19.67 seconds set at the Australian championships in Sydney last month, has elected to skip the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow to focus on the global junior event at historic Hayward Field. The venue holds particular significance as it is where American Erriyon Knighton set the previous U20 world record of 19.69 in 2022 a mark Gout has now surpassed.

“I‘m really excited to get out there at World Athletics under 20s,” Gout said in a statement. “I know it’s a great stadium and place to run fast, and I feel confident I’ll be ready to step up and make Australia proud. I‘ll be competing in the 200m but I’m also excited to join in the 4x400m on the last day. “ 

The decision to add the relay comes after Australia‘s surprising bronze medal in the men’s 4x400m at the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, Botswana this month . Gout’s confirmation in the relay adds firepower to a squad aiming to improve on the record 15 medals won at the 2024 edition in Lima.

Gout announced himself to the athletics world at the 2024 under-20 world championships in Lima, where he took 200m silver at just 16 years old, finishing behind Bayanda Walaza of South Africa. His current 19.67 mark is faster than anything Usain Bolt produced as a teenager Bolt‘s best at the U20 level was 19.93 set in 2004.

Gout is skipping the July 23-August 2 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow to prioritize the world juniors and continue his long-term plan toward an Olympic debut at Los Angeles in 2028, with an eye on his home Olympics at Brisbane in 2032.

As the under-20 world championships approach, The Silicon Review tracks Australian teen sensation Gout Gout‘s ambitious double and how the boy who ran 19.67 is positioning himself as the next superstar of global sprinting.