MELBOURNE: Australian teen sensation Gout Gout will branch out into the 4x400m relay at the U-20 world championships in Eugene, Oregon in August while looking to emulate Usain Bolt by winning the 200m title.

The 18-year-old sprinter clocked an U-20 world record of 19.67 seconds in the 200m at Australia’s championships in Sydney last month to beat his previous national record and underline his enormous potential. It remains the year’s best 200m early in the athletics season.

Australian Athletics confirmed Gout’s two-event programme on Tuesday, with the teenager having elected to skip the July 23 to Aug 2 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Gout said he was confident he could step up at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field and make Australia proud.

“I know it’s a great stadium and place to run fast,” he said in a statement. “I’ll be competing in the 200m but I’m also excited to join in the 4x400m on the last day.”

Gout’s confirmation in the relay comes after Australia claimed a surprise bronze medal in the men’s 4x400m at the World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, Botswana this month.

Gout announced himself to the athletics world at the 2024 under-20 world championships in Lima, where he took the 200m silver at 16.

Jamaican Bolt won 200m gold in 20.61 at the 2002 event at his home track in Kingston, just over a month before his 16th birthday.

Gout is also expected to emulate eight-time Olympic gold medallist Bolt as a force in the 100m, boasting a personal best of 10 seconds flat.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2026