Gout’s out: Teenage sprint star hamstrung by injury
Sprint superstar Gout Gout has suffered a major hamstring injury that will force him to miss this year’s under-20 world championships.
Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout’s hopes of emulating the legendary Usain Bolt at the upcoming under-20 world championships have been dashed by a serious hamstring injury.
Gout suffered a partial tendon tear when he hurt his left hamstring at training in Brisbane on Wednesday night.
The 18-year-old, who revealed the shock news via social media on Thursday, will not compete in Oregon next month and has already turned his attention to next season.
Gout’s next major global meet now might not be until the world championships in Beijing in September next year.
“I’m very disappointed but I have no other possibility but to accept the situation,” Gout posted on Instagram.
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“I understand this is part of athletics.
“My focus now will be on my rehab in the coming weeks and months and ensuring I come back in 2027 better and stronger and faster.”
This year, Gout smashed his own Australian 200m record with a time of 19.67 seconds at the national championships in Sydney.
It was faster than Jamaican great Bolt had run at the same age.
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The flying Queenslander had decided to skip the upcoming Glasgow Commonwealth Games to focus on the 200m at under-20 world championships.
Gout won silver in the same event at the U20 world titles two years ago as a 16-year-old, and had hoped to match Bolt’s feat by winning gold this time around.
But he is now preparing for a long rehabilitation process, having detailed the full extent of his injury on social media.
“There is a partial thickness tear of the proximal intramuscular tendon of the long head biceps femoris (hamstring),” Gout said.
“There is partial disruption of the tendon which involves less than 10 per cent of the cross-sectional area of the tendon but extends over an 8cm length.
“This represents a grade 3C injury according to the BAMIC.”
Australian Athletics high performance boss Andrew Faichney offered the body’s support to Gout.
“Gout has had a phenomenal couple of years, and he has a long career ahead of him including hopefully making many more Australian teams in the future,” Faichney said in a statement.
“It’s paramount he has time to recover and rest and return to the track to compete whenever he is ready.
“We also encourage kindness and compassion, as this type of injury is devastating for any athlete and we all look forward to seeing Gout back on the track competing and doing what he does best.”
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