The Australian teenager handled the pressure of his major international debut to finish third in his heat with a time of 20.23 seconds
Few sporting debuts have arrived with as much hype, but Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout passed his first test at a major global meet by booking a place in the semi-finals of the World Championships in Tokyo.
The 17-year-old handled the pressure under the bright lights of Japan’s National Stadium, powering home in a time of 20.23 seconds to grab the third qualifying place in the fifth of six heats.
He finished behind Jamaica’s Bryan Levell and Zimbabwe’s Makanakaishe Charamba, the only two athletes in the heat higher than his world ranking of 16.
Gout started slowly and was quickly caught by Levell on his inside, but found his stride and comfortably claimed third in a time two-tenths off his personal best of 20.02sec.
