Gout Gout wins the 200m at the Australian Championships (© Getty Images)
Rising sprint star Gout Gout produced the standout performance of the Australian Championships with a world U20 record of 19.67* to retain his 200m title on the final day of action in Sydney on Sunday (12).
The 18-year-old got off to a strong start, but trailed Aidan Murphy as they entered the home straight. The pair were level until about the final 30 metres when Gout – as is often his style – started to pull clear.
He crossed the line in 19.67 (1.7m/s) to smash his previous PB of 20.02, which was also the senior Oceanian record. He also took 0.02 off Erriyon Knighton’s world U20 record of 19.69, set in Eugene in 2022. Knighton also clocked 19.49 earlier that year, which remains the fastest performance by an U20 athlete, but it wasn’t ratified as a world U20 record.
Gout now sits one place ahead of Usain Bolt on the world U20 all-time list.
Murphy finished second in 19.88 – also well inside the previous Oceanian record – with Calab Law (20.21) and Christopher Ius (20.26) following him across the finish line. The first seven finishers set big PBs.
“This is what I’ve been waiting for,” said Gout, the 2024 world U20 silver medallist. “Before the race, I looked at my notes and I’d predicted that I was going to run 19.75 here.
“It’s good when people compare you to the best in the world. I’m me and I’m doing my own thing. There’s no pressure from me. As soon as I take to the track, it’s just me, the track and my spikes."
Elsewhere in Sydney, Cameron Myers won the 1500m and 5000m double, improved his own Oceania all-comers’ record in the shorter event with 3:29.85, then setting a PB of 13:11.66 to win over the longer distance.
The 19-year-old beat the 3:30.42 he ran during the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Melbourne at the end of March, becoming the first athlete to break 3:30 this year and recording the second-fastest time of his career behind the area U20 record of 3:29.80 he set in Ostrava last year.
Oliver Hoare finished second (3:32.66) and world indoor bronze medallist Adam Spencer was third (3:34.23).
“To do this in front of a home crowd and the way I did it, is awesome,” Myers told Australian Athletics. “It took me a while this year to get going, but I’ve got going now and hopefully this shows I will be a real contender in the European season.”
There was drama in the women’s 1500m as Olympic silver medallist Jessica Hull fell on the home straight. Claudia Hollingsworth crossed the finish line first and was initially disqualified but late reinstated as the winner in 4:17.06 ahead of Sarah Billings.
Lachlan Kennedy became the first Australian athlete to break 10 seconds on home soil, winning his 100m heat in 9.96 (0.2m/s) to improve his PB by 0.02. He then matched that time to win the final.
Elsewhere, Olympic champion Nina Kennedy won the pole vault with 4.65m. Mia Scerri won the heptathlon after setting five PBs across the seven events, scoring 6175, while world U20 champion Delta Amidzovski soared a PB of 6.84m in long jump qualification.
*Subject to the usual ratification procedure
