The Brisbane teenager may be the talk of the town but there are many other athletes well placed to impress in Tokyo in the green and gold
T
he sudden rise of sprint phenomenon Gout Gout has triggered an explosion of interest in athletics, but it has also obscured the sport’s growing depth in Australia, which is poised for the spotlight at the world championships in Japan starting on Saturday.
Despite the hype, Gout is far from Australia’s best chance of success in the hot and humid National Stadium in inner Tokyo. The team totals 86 athletes – 22 more than in Budapest in 2023 – and Australia has never sent a larger group to a global meet. There are as many as 10 genuine medal contenders, including 21 Australian athletes seeded higher than the Brisbane high school student.
The teenager’s seeding of 16 suggests he will do well just to make it to the semi-finals and remain competitive in his first major meet, alongside the likes of Noah Lyles, Letsile Tebogo, Kenny Bednarek and the rest of the world’s fastest men, even if some – including veteran commentator Bruce McAvaney and fellow sprinter Lachlan Kennedy – believe he could go all the way to the final.
