Teen flyer has aussies fired up

The kind of pace that propelled teenage sprinting phenom Gout Gout to break decades-old Australian records and earned him an invitation to train with Olympic champion Noah Lyles ended up costing him in his season finale.

The handicapper's calculations on Monday achieved what few of Gout's rivals could do all southern summer, making it too difficult for the 17-yearold high school senior to win.

As a back marker at the Stawell Gift — a 120-meter handicap race that has been contested every Easter Weekend since 1878 (barring four years during World War II and in 2020 due to COVID-19) on a turf track in the state of Victoria — Gout missed out on the final when he placed second in his semifinal race. Only the heat winners advance.

Runners start from handicap marks according to their recent form in the 100 meters. And so John Evans, who started from a mark 8.75 meters ahead of Gout and five lanes across to the right, narrowly won their semifinal race. Evans then went on to win the final.

The meet was broadcast live across Australia on commercial television in high expectation of a showdown between Gout and 21-year-old Lachlan Kennedy, a silver medalist in the 60m at the World Indoor Championships in China last month. The national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, featured the meet in a live blog on its website.