OSTRAVA, Czech Republic (Reuters) -Australian teenage sprinter Gout Gout crushed the 200 metres field in his first senior race abroad on Tuesday, bettering his own national record by two hundredths of a second to finish in 20.02 seconds at the Ostrava Golden Spike.
The 17-year-old ran a textbook race in his European debut at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event in the Czech Republic, crossing the line 0.17 seconds ahead of Cuban Reynier Mena, while Briton Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake (20.60) was third.
“I feel good. New personal best, new national record in my first European race,” the Queensland schoolboy told reporters.
“I don’t feel any pressure. Because as soon as I step out on that track, it’s just me by myself and what I’ve got to do — my favourite thing, and that’s to run.
“So, I just go out there and run and nothing stops me from doing that … Get some more races in me and (the 20-second barrier) will drop for sure.”
Gout has drawn comparisons to Jamaican great Usain Bolt and he made headlines in December when he broke Peter Norman’s national record that had stood for 56 years in 20.04.
He ran a 19.84-second 200 and 9.99 seconds in the 100m at the Australian national championships in Perth in April but a strong tailwind rendered both illegal.
His performances were strong enough, however, to earn him a spot on Australia’s team for the World Championships in Tokyo in September.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York and Nick Mulvenney in Sydney; Editing by Christian Radnedge and Neil Fullick)
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