Gout Gout was only third in his World Athletics Championships debut, but that was enough to beat his hero Usain Bolt.
The Australian 17-year-old was slow out of the blocks in his Tokyo 200metres qualifier, but soon recovered to come home in a comfortable third place behind Bryan Levell and Makanakaishe Charamba.
With only the top three qualifying from the heat, Gout is now in the semi-finals which will take place on Thursday.
Third on its own may not justify the hype surrounding the teen sensation, but his time of 20.23 will, given it was quicker than what Bolt did on his World Championship debut.
The Jamaican sporting icon recorded a time of 20.80 in his first heat in Helsinki back in 2005.
Bolt didn’t medal on that occasion, but later went on to become one of the greatest athletes of all time and the fastest man to have ever lived with world records in 100metres and 200m.
And in Tokyo he was in attendance to watch Gout’s debut, given the teen sensation has been touted as the man to finally take his world records.
Speaking to Channel Nine in Australia post-race, Gout said: “I’m happy to be here and happy I qualified so let’s get it.
“It’s definitely not [the same as any other race] this is the biggest stage in the world for athletics, this is the world championships against the best of the best.
“Obviously it’s a bit nerve wracking but I’m just going to get out there and keep running.
“I’ve just got to take the experience and take it through to the semi-finals where hopefully I can get the start I need and then I’m off like a butterfly.”
Speaking about the hype and the pressure on him, the Queensland native added: “I feel it, but at the end of the day you’ve just got to get out there and keep running.”
BBCThe fastest man to have ever lived was watching on[/caption]
He was then asked about Jamaican rival and heat winner Levell, he added: “He took off really fast and held it so congratulations to him.”
Gout later added in another interview: “The start’s obviously not my strong suit but as soon as I get into running I’m chilling.
“Everyone wasn’t up against me apart from the top two, so I just hit cruise control last 50, last 30, and just got the big Q [automatic qualifier], so that’s what I needed.”
Gout will be back in action tomorrow in the semi-finals where third may not be good enough.
Three heats will take place with the top two qualifying from each and the final two spots made up of the two fastest third-place finishers.
