Two Australian teenage phenoms lit up the track at the Ostrava Golden Spike overnight, with Gout Gout and Cameron Myers delivering more record-breaking performances, while Peter Bol came within a whisker of his own national mark at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet.
Photo Credit: Sonya Maleter/World Athletics
Under the weight of expectation and the glare of his European debut, Ipswich teen Gout Gout rose to the occasion, with the 17-year-old from Ipswich tearing up the men's 200m in 20.02 (0.0) to better his own Australian record and reannounce himself to the world.
Up against a stacked field featuring two sub-20 second men, Gout found himself chasing Cuba’s Reynier Mena down the straight but surged over the final 20 metres to take the win by one-metre and stop the clock 0.17 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
Fittingly, his record run came at the same venue where Usain Bolt made his European debut as a 17-year-old, with Gout also rising to joint sixth on the world under-20 200m all-time list.
“I’ve felt stronger in training these last couple of months and I’ve felt good since I got to Europe last Thursday,” Gout said.
“I knew Mena would come hard at me the first 100 but I was confident I'd be close enough to come home strongly in the second part of the race which is of course my stronger part. I felt calm but strong as I came off the turn and was confident I'd be strong enough to get the win. Another national record! Pretty happy with that, it’s not a bad first up in Europe!”
Not to be outdone, 18-year-old Cameron Myers delivered a performance of a lifetime in the men’s 1500m, clocking 3:29.80 to smash his own Australian under 20 record by nearly three seconds. Finishing fourth in the hotly contested race, the performance moves Cameron to third on the Australian all-time list, just 0.39-seconds shy of Oliver Hoare’s record of 3:29.41 set in 2023.
“My fastest races the last two years have been miles. It’s a coincidence but it’s really good to have a fast 1500m and I’m really pleased to get a PB and my first time under 3:30,” Cameron said.
“All 1500s in Europe are loaded right now and a lot of good guys are getting on it. It’s pretty good fun to be honest. My next race is in Eugene at the Prefontaine Mile. As always, that will be a great race so I’m really looking forward to it.”
Also flying the flag for the Australians in the same race was Jude Thomas, who finished 7th in the 16-strong field with a new personal best time of 3:32.07, moving to seventh on the Australian all-time list as the 23-year-old continues his upward trajectory this season.
Meanwhile, Peter Bol produced his second-fastest time in the men’s 800m, taking victory in 1:43.80 – just 0.01 seconds outside his Australian record set at the Australian Athletics Championships in April. Making his move with one lap to go, Peter dominated the field with his signature composure and acceleration, cruising to another victory.
On the field, pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall proved his form, clearing 5.82m to take third place. With a clean sheet until his final clearance, the Western Australian was unable to clear 5.92m, and passed in his remaining attempts to aim for a new personal best of 5.97m.
Not to be, Kurtis was forced to settle for bronze, only defeated by two six-metre jumpers in Mondo Duplantis (SWE) who broke his own meeting record with a 6.13m vault, and Emmanouil Karalis (GRE) who cleared 5.92m.
Australia’s fastest woman Torrie Lewis clocked 11.26 (+0.6) to finish sixth in the 100m. The race saw national records fall to Liberia’s Thelma Davis (10.91) and New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs (10.94) with Marie Josee Ta Lou-Smith between the pair at 10.92.
