Australian teenager Gout Gout saw his debut at the World Athletics Championships end on Thursday after finishing fourth in the men's 200m semi-final in Tokyo. The 17-year-old clocked 20.36 seconds, missing out on a place in the final by a significant margin.
Gout, the youngest athlete in the event, ran slower than his heat time of 20.23 seconds and well off his personal best of 20.02 seconds set in June. The fastest qualifier, Noah Lyles, recorded 19.51 seconds. Despite the result, Gout remained positive, saying he was proud of his performance and confident of future success.
In the women's 200m, Torrie Lewis also failed to advance, finishing fourth in her semi-final in 22.69 seconds. However, Australia saw success in other events, with three women progressing to the 800m semi-finals, including Jess Hull who was reinstated after a fall. Nicola Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson advanced to the high jump final without a miss.
For the first time, two Australian women will contest a 5000m final at the World Championships, after Rose Davies and Linden Hall progressed from their heat. In the men's javelin, Cameron McEntyre finished 12th in the final.
