It’s been a while since Australia has been able to get this excited for a track event — probably 25 years to be exact. Though Gout Gout isn’t quite at the level of Cathy Freeman, the Australian teen sprint phenomenon is stepping onto the biggest stage of his young career on Wednesday.
Gout Gout is only 17 years old and already the national 200m record holder; now, he makes his World Championships debut in Tokyo in the men’s 200m.
Here’s when to watch in Perth, what’s at stake, and how to stream it live.
What time will Gout Gout race in the 200m
Perth will be lucky to see Gout Gout take to the track in prime time. The 200m men’s heats will start at 7:15 pm (AWST) on Wednesday, September 17. Should he progress to the Semi-finals, he will then be racing from 8:00 pm (AWST) on Thursday, September 18, with the men’s 200m final to follow on Friday, September 19, from 9:00 pm (AWST)
- Heats: Wed 17 Sep — 7:15 pm
- Semi-finals: Thu 18 Sep — 8:02 pm
- Final: Fri 19 Sep — 9:06 pm
How to watch Gout Gout
SBS is providing full live coverage across SBS Viceland and SBS On Demand for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
Will Gout Gout win?
While the hype is real and the endorsement from Usain Bolt is worthy, Gout Gout is fast, real fast — he’s just not that fast — well, not yet.
Gout arrives in Tokyo as Australia’s next big sprint hope, owning the national 200m mark at 20.02 and a stack of wind-assisted sub-20 runs this season (most recently 19.84 in Perth). He and his team have targeted the 200m exclusively for Tokyo — a smart play for a debut meet.
To put his speed into perspective, Gout Gout would have placed equal 5th with Alexander Ogando at the Paris Olympics with a time of 20.02. That would be 0.56 seconds off the winner, Letsile Tebogo and 0.32 seconds off third-place global track star Noah Lyles.
Still very impressive for a 17-year-old who is yet to reach his max speed.
| Position | Athlete | Country | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Letsile Tebogo | Botswana | 19.46 |
| 2 | Kenneth Bednarek | USA | 19.62 |
| 3 | Noah Lyles | USA | 19.70 |
| 4 | Erriyon Knighton | USA | 19.99 |
| 5 | Alexander Ogando | Dominican Republic | 20.02 |
| 6 | Tapiwanashe Makarawu | Zimbabwe | 20.10 |
| 7 | Joseph Fahnbulleh | Liberia | 20.15 |
| 8 | Makanakaishe Charamba | Zimbabwe | 20.53 |
Gout Gout and Usain Bolt age 17 comparison
How does Gout Gout compare to Usain Bolt at the same age, 17 years old? Here’s where it’s exciting to see how far Gout Gout can go.
As a 17-year-old, Usain Bolt ran 20.13 seconds at the 2003 World Youth Championships in Sherbrooke, Canada. However, by the age of 18, he had cracked the 20-second barrier, running 19.93 seconds.
Gout Gout to make history
Based on Gout Gout’s recent form, he will be a strong chance to qualify for the World Athletics Championships 200m final, which in itself would be a historic achievement as no Australian man has reached a 200m final at the Olympics or Worlds since Patrick Johnson in 2005.
