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Australian teenage sprint sensation Gout Gout has crushed the field in his first senior race abroad, beating his own national 200m record at the Ostrava Golden Spike in Europe.
The 17-year-old bettered his old mark by two-hundredths of a second to finish in 20.02 seconds.
He wasn’t the only Australian winner at the meet, with Peter Bol taking out the 800m race.
Gout ran a textbook race in his European debut at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event in the Czech Republic on Wednesday AEST, crossing the line 0.17 seconds ahead of Cuban Reynier Mena, with Briton Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake (20.60) third.
“I’ve felt stronger in training these last couple of months, and I’ve felt good since I got to Europe last Thursday,” Gout said.
“I knew [Reynier] Mena would come hard at me the first 100, but I was confident I’d be close enough to come home strongly in the second part of the race, which is, of course, my stronger part,” Gout said.
“I felt calm but strong as I came off the turn and was confident I’d be strong enough to get the win.
“Another national record! Pretty happy with that, it’s not a bad first-up in Europe!”
Gout has been likened to the legendary Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, gaining attention last December when he surpassed Peter Norman’s long-standing national record of 20.04, a mark that endured for 56 years.
The Queensland teenager was confirmed in April for Australia’s team for the world championships in Tokyo in September.
In another great result for Australia, veteran West Australian Bol produced his second-fastest time in the 800m, taking victory in 1:43.80 — just 0.01 seconds outside his national record set at the Australian championships in April.
Australia’s fastest woman, Torrie Lewis, clocked 11.26 (+0.6) to finish sixth in the 100m.
