MELBOURNE :Teen sprinter Gout Gout has been confirmed on Australia’s team for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September.
The 17-year-old son of South Sudanese immigrants will run in the 200 metres after clocking a wind-assisted 19.84 seconds in Perth this month to win his first national title.
The Queenslander’s rapid rise has raised comparisons with Jamaican great Usain Bolt and made him the poster boy for Australian track and field, seven years before the country hosts the Brisbane Olympics in 2032.
“I’m super excited to be picked to run the 200 in Tokyo at the World Championships,” Gout said in an Australian Athletics statement on Wednesday.
“That’s what we’ve been aiming for. I’m looking forward to September and seeing what I can do against the best of the best.”
Gout headlines a talented young contingent on the Australian team which includes 18-year-old Cameron Myers, who took the 1,500 national title in Perth and ran the fastest-ever mile indoors among under-20 athletes (3:47.48) at the Millrose Games in New York in February.
Former high jump world champion Eleanor Patterson, who took bronze at the Paris Olympics, was also named on Wednesday among the first tranche of athletes confirmed for the team.
Patterson will bid for a sixth medal in major championships, having taken indoor silver at Nanjing in March behind compatriot Nicola Olyslagers.
Peter Bol, who ran fourth in the 800 at the Tokyo Olympics, will return to the Japanese capital in good form after taking the national record (1:43.79) at the Perth championships.