Australian sprint superstar Gout Gout has advanced to the 200-metre semi finals at the World Athletics Championships, finishing third in his heat in a time of 20.23 seconds.
The 17-year-old sensation nailed the task in Tokyo on Wednesday night (AEST) and will now compete in the semis on Thursday night.
Running in lane eight, Gout struggled early as he typically does, but started to pull away from the back half of the field in the final 80 metres to earn automatic qualification.
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“The young man’s talents come to the surface here in front of the world,” Nine caller Matthew Hill said as the teen prodigy crossed the finish line.
Jamaica’s Bryan Levell won the heat with a time of 19.84 seconds.
Gout Gout finishes third in his 200m heat Nine
Speaking to Nine immediately after the race, the teenager was asked if competing on the world stage was just like any other race and gave an honest response.
“Definitely not, this is the biggest stage in the world against the best of the best,” an ecstatic Gout told David Culbert.
“Obviously it’s a bit nerve-wracking, but I’ve just got to get out there and keep running.
“I’ve got to take the experience with me into the semi finals and hopefully I can qualify.”
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As for the enormous pressure he is already under, Gout knows that it exists but is solely focused on doing what he does best – run fast and improve his times.
“I feel it,” he said.
“But at the end of the day, you’ve just got to go out there and do your thing.”
American superstar and Olympic 100m gold medal winner Noah Lyles also advanced to the semis, running a time of 19.99 seconds to win his heat.
Earlier in the women’s 200m heats, fellow Aussie sprinter Torrie Lewis finished second and advanced to the semi finals with a personal best time of 22.56 seconds.
“She will be absolutely over the moon with that,” Hill said on the call.
Lewis finished 0.16s behind Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith and even started to take some ground off the American star in the final stages, hitting the line strong.
“This one took a lot more out of me than the 100s I think – but happy with a PB,” the 20-year-old told Nine after her heat.
“[In the] outside lane you can’t really see the inside very well, but I knew I was in a qualifying position. It was a chance to go fast so I wanted to take it.
“Just see how I recover for tomorrow and see if I can do it.”
Jael Bestue finished third, with all three qualifying automatically for the semis.
