Gout Gout returns to action this weekend at the Maurie Plant Meet at Melbourne’s Lakeside Stadium. The event will see several of Australia and the world’s best athletes competing. The current men’s 200m Olympic champion, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, will contest the 400m.
Gout Gout
Gout will be racing in the Peter Norman Memorial 200m. The event is arguably the most significant of his career to date, as it will see the 16-year-old come up against senior elite athletes. Gout has made headlines multiple times in the last year with record-breaking runs.
In December, he set a new Australian record in the men’s 200m, running a blistering 20.04 at the Australian All Schools Championships. That run also broke the under-16 200m record, which was previously held by none other than 8-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt.
This month, he became the only Australian to break the elusive 20-second barrier in the 200m, running a wind-assisted 19.98. While that time won’t be officially recorded because of the illegal tailwind, it put the world on notice.
Botswana’s Olympic champion Tebogo has chosen to compete in the men’s 400m and will not race against Gout, but complimented the young athlete, saying: “His style of running, it’s top-notch. I believe he’s going to be the next big thing for the continent.”
Aussies in action
Aussie Olympian Torrie Lewis is set for a tough race in the women’s 200m when she comes up against South Africa’s Miranda Coetzee.
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Discus thrower Matthew Denny, who won bronze for Australia in Paris, comes into this meet after recording this season’s best throw of 67.82 metres at the Adelaide Invitational.
Eleanor Patterson will be the favourite for the women’s high jump after winning silver at last weekend’s World Athletics Indoor Championships. It’s also the first time the 2022 world champion has competed in Victoria, her home state, in seven years.
One of the most anticipated races on the schedule is the men’s 1500m. 18-year-old Cameron Myers, fresh off breaking a series of under-20 middle-distance records in the U.S, will take on Aussie Olympians Oliver Hoare and Peter Bol. The current Australian champion, Adam Spencer, will also be vying for gold.
Paralympians in action
Saturday’s event will also feature men’s and women’s ambulant 100m events, with several Paralympians in action. In the men’s 100m, Paralympic champion James Turner will take on bronze medallist Chad Perris. In the women’s event, Australian Paralympic bronze medallist Mali Lovell will look to upset Kiwi Paralympic champion Anna Grimaldi.
How to watch
The Maurie Plant Meet will be broadcast on Channel 7 (and 7Plus) from 7:00pm on Saturday.
