While plenty of spectators turned out to catch the latest glimpse of Gout, there were also expectations of a potential showdown between the young Australian and fellow countryman Lachlan Kennedy, a 21-year-old world indoor silver medallist in the 60m.
The two went toe-to-toe in the open aged 200m at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne at the end of March, where Kennedy got the better of Gout.
They were later meant to meet in the men’s 200m at the Australian U20 Athletics Championships earlier this month until Kennedy false-started, allowing Gout to go unchallenged as he breezed to victory.
Hopes they might duel once more on the grass at Central Park in western Victoria were dashed after Kennedy was also eliminated in the semis. Like his teen counterpart, he was also unable to make up for the handicap handed to him.
With Gout’s domestic season now over, it’s not yet known when he might take to the track again, but there are expectations the teen could be competing at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September.