Gout Gout has bounced back from the reality check of his Diamond League debut with a strong performance behind Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles in a rare 150m race in Europe.
The friendly rivals took on the unusual distance at the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, with Lyles clocking a world-best 14.67 seconds to win from South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile (14.78).
Gout trailed behind to finish a comfortable third in 14.96 — setting another world under-20 mark in the process.
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And he was all smiles this time after his 200m sixth-place finish in Oslo last week prompted Olympic 200m gold medallist Letsile Tebogo to suggest the Aussie should go back to juniors.
In comparison Lyles, who shares a sponsor with Gout and has previously hosted him on his podcast, celebrated with Gout after the finish line.
“That wasn’t planned but it happened!” Gout told running commentator Mitch Dyer in Ostrava.
“I guess it was history.”
Gout, though, still knows what he needs to work on to keep improving.
“This is definitely a race I’ve been needing after Oslo. I’m glad I got it and I’m ready for more,” he said.
“Usually when I get a bad start it’s hard for me to come back. Today I had an OK start and I brought it home.
“(I’ll) enjoy the moment and go back to training and focus on more.”
Dyer said Gout had told him the day before he just wanted to keep ‘walking into the fire’.
But junior success is this year’s big goal, with the under-20 world championships on the horizon in July.
Gout already owns the world under-20 record in the 200m, running 19.67 in April.
Lyles, who won 100m gold at the Paris Games and is four-time world champion in the 200m, capitalised on a fast start before using his speed to cruise to the finish line in Ostrava.
His 14.67 beat the previous best set by Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson at 14.92 in April.
Gout said his race was “all about time” because the winning feeling is “nothing new”.
“It’s very hard to get used to running from a staggered 150 start,” he said.
“We do it in practice, but that’s without blocks. But all in all, I think that it was really good.”
Elsewhere in Ostrava, Australian veteran Peter Bol created his own slice of history as he rushed from seventh to win the 1000m.
Bol lowered the national record to 2:15.13 after shading Netherlands runner Samuel Chapple by seven hundredths of a second, with third through sixth all finishing within seven tenths of the winner.
“Good to finally get a win,” Bol said after crossing the line with his arms out in celebration.
He said he was “so nervous for this race” moving up to 1000m from his pet 800m distance.
