Hello world.
An emotional Gout Gout has declared himself ready to embrace the world stage after a lung-busting triumph in the most brutal race of all.
The sprint sensation, with no less than 14 cameras on him as he left the starting blocks, finished his solo running career at Ipswich Grammar School by breaking his own competition 400m record with a dogged win in the GPS 400m at Brisbane’s QSAC Stadium.
Athletics history is littered with quotes about the 400m being the hardest race of all – a staying race and a sprint wrapped in one heart-racing, lactic-acid inducing torture chamber and you could feel that vibe as Gout crossed the line.
At first glance, taking on schoolboys after competing at the world championships in Tokyo might seem a walk in the park but it was never going to be that.
Gout’s key rival, Brisbane Grammar’s Seth Kennedy, who finished three metres behind him, is the reigning under-20 Australian champion who scorched the track for a career best 20.64 seconds in the 200m earlier in the day. Gout went out hard and understandably was sucking in the big ones in the final 50m.
This was an excellent win and good judges claim he could make a career as a 400m runner if the mood took him — which it probably won’t.
“I feel great … I cannot wait to go on the next journey,’’
“For me it’s the world stage. That is the next step. This is the place where I found my speed. It is sad to be leaving and I want to thank GPS and my school to give me an opportunity to fine my soul.
“It definitely feels great to know I have that fan base from the really, really young to adults like yourself.’’
The joy Gout felt in the victory was evident when he approached a group of 30 Ipswich schoolmates after the finish and let out a prime-evil roar of pride and relief.
Every time he appears on the track there is evidence Gout’s rare star power.
Commercial television networks are barely ever seen at the GPS titles. This time there was three of them plus an American crew filming a documentary coming to film the star who reckoned he posed for 500 selfies at the AFL grand final, a figure that some observers felt was “unders.’’
Gout’s potential remains bottomloss. He has grown five centimetres in the past year and added two kilograms of muscle. In a month he will leave school behind and be able to train fulltime. Even that step must surely improve him.
His initial plan was to study psychology at Queensland University but that is likely to be put on hold as he travels the athletics world with a key stop at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
The Australian 400m record of 44.38 seconds was set by Darren Clarke at the Seoul Olympics and has defied all-comers for 37 years.
Clarke’s coach Mike Hurst feels Gout could have that record at his mercy … if he wanted to seriously chase it.
“I think he has the potential to lower Darren’s record to the 43-second zone,’’ Hurst said.
“He definitely has huge potential as a huge 400m runner. It takes Gout about 50m to get rolling and that is pretty typical of most elite 400m competitors,’’ Hurst said.
“But you have to train for it. Would he care to do it? Most 400m runners do it because they are not good enough for the 200m and definitely not good enough in the 100m. Only a fool runs two or three times further than he has to.
“The 400m is not about pure speed — Gout has loads of that — it is about rationing your energy supply.
“He is very elastic and that is very helpful in the 400m and he does not have a lot of muscle mass to carry. Even when he is stuffed he can still float.’’
