Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout will miss next month’s World Under-20 Championships after suffering a tear to his left hamstring in training, the 18-year-old said on Thursday.
Gout had been selected to compete in the 200 metres and 4×400 metres relay at the championships in Eugene, Oregon, but the injury has brought his season to an early end.
The teenager had already opted to skip this month’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow to focus on the World Under-20 Championships.
“I’m very disappointed but I have no other possibility but to accept the situation,” Gout wrote on Instagram.
“I understand that 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.”
Gout emerged as one of athletics’ brightest young talents after clocking a world under-20 record of 19.67 seconds in the 200 metres at the Australian Championships in Sydney in April, breaking his own national record.
He was unable to reproduce that form at last month’s Diamond League meeting, finishing sixth in the 200 metres in 20.60 seconds.
The Australian also placed third in the rarely contested 150 metres at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic, where he recorded a time of 14.96 seconds.
