Tokyo: Gout Gout finally found his level. It is likely to be a temporary level, a mere staging post for the prodigious talent but, for now, world championships semi-finalist is a handsome place to be.
The Ipswich 17-year-old did not make the world championships final in Tokyo, so he’s not in the fastest eight men in the world.
He did not make history, sorry, more history, by becoming the first junior to make the 200m final.
He was stopped in the semi-finals, finishing fourth in his semi in the wet in a time of 20.36 seconds – finishing as the 18th quickest overall as Noah Lyles scorched the field with a 19.51 – but even this was beyond expectations.
The word of caution on Gout has been firstly about imbuing him with outsized expectations and then cautioning that junior performance did