Australia’s Lachlan Kennedy pips Gout Gout at Maurie Plant Meet

Gout Gout has been beaten in the 200m in a stunning upset at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne on Saturday night.

All eyes were on the teen sensation as he faced some of his toughest competition yet in front of the first sold-out crowd at a one-day Australian athletics meet since 2001.

But it was 21-year-old Lachlan Kennedy who stole the show, winning the Peter Norman* Memorial 200m and beating Gout in a shock upset.

The last man out on track in the final event of the night, Gout made a rock star entrance wearing his red Adidas tracksuit as a brief pre-race delay added suspense.

But it was Kennedy who won in a personal best time of 20.26sec, ahead of Gout in 20.30sec.

Kennedy, who won the 100m earlier on Saturday, flew out of the blocks and was well ahead at the bend.

Gout came home like a rocket over the last 100m and nearly pipped Kennedy on the line but Gout left his run just a bit too late.

“Gout’s come with a flying run and Kennedy’s absolutely turned his personal best inside out,” Bruce McAvaney said in commentary on Seven.

Kennedy’s previous personal best was 20.93 and he now has the fourth fastest 200m time by an Australian.

“We don’t have one, we’ve got two stars in Australian sprinting,” McAvaney said.

“Australian sprinting is awesome right now … spearheaded* by Gout,” Kennedy said after the race.

“I knew he was coming, my goal was just to hold him off. Five more metres and he would have had me.”

GOUT BECOMES MUST WATCH TV
McAvaney described it as a “coming out*” party for Gout, who raced for the first time in front of a national TV audience.

TV ratings figures show the Maurie Plant Meet was the most watched program on free-to-air TV on Saturday, behind only the Channel 7 and Channel 9 news bulletins.

The athletics meet attracted an audience of 1.211 million viewers in a sign of Gout’s growing popularity, with his races quickly becoming “must see” TV.

Australia’s rapid improvement across the board in athletics is another reason for the sport’s growing popularity. At last weekend’s World Indoor Championships, Australia picked up seven medals in an impressive performance.

“Some will be disappointed,” McAvaney said after Gout was beaten by Kennedy.

“I think we’re all thrilled in so many ways that Gout responded like he did and Australia bona fide* have two huge stars going forward.

“We’ve seen the start of a real rivalry.”

In classy sportsmanship scenes, Kennedy and Gout embraced after the race and paid tribute to each other before thanking the packed crowd.

“Racing is great and getting in the races helps build my confidence and helps me think what I need to do. It is definitely great,” Gout said.

“The stadium got sold out so it is definitely great and being in this environment definitely helps to build my confidence for (September’s World Championships in) Tokyo,” Gout said.

Kennedy arguably now has the title as Australia’s fastest man after he also picked up a silver medal in the 60m in the World Indoor Championships earlier this month.

Sports presenter and former sprinting great Matt Shirvington said: “For Gout Gout this is not a failure in any way, because he was always going to win tonight.

“He was either going to cross the finish line first or take a bit of the pressure valve off and that’s important for him going to nationals and qualifying for the world championships later in the year. You’ve got to lose to learn how to win.”

MEN’S 200M RESULTS
1. Lachlan Kennedy 20.26

2. Gout Gout 20.30

3. Calab Law 20.78

4. Kalinga Hewa Kumarage 20.89

5. Aidan Murphy 20.98

6. Yudai Nishi 21.00

7. Koki Ueyama 21.01

8. Christopher Ius 21.06

WATCH THE VIDEO

OTHER WINNERS
Aussie teen Cameron Myers has run a flawless* race to win the John Landy 1500m in a slick time of 3:34.98 while Michelle Jenneke completed her first race since suffering a nasty hamstring injury, beginning her comeback in the 100m hurdles.

Jenneke ran a time of 13.59sec at Melbourne’s Lakeside Stadium, which was good enough for sixth in the final.

Japan’s Yumi Tanaka was victorious in 13.11 as Chisato Kiyoyama and Hitomi Nakajima rounded out an all-Japanese top three.

Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo finished second in the men’s 400m in a time of 45.26, behind fellow countryman Bayapo Ndori, who won in 45.14sec.

In the men’s 100m, Lachlan Kennedy won in a time of 10.17, ahead of Sebastian Sultana (10.29) and Rohan Browning (10.30).

POLL

GLOSSARY

• Peter Norman: an Australian track athlete and champion who won silver in the 200m at the 1968 Olympics with a time of 20.06sec, which was the Oceania record for more than 56 years
• spearheaded: lead an attack or campaign
• coming out: introduction to the public domain
• bona fide: authentic or genuine
• flawless: perfect or without fault

EXTRA READING
Aussies race to new 100m record
Gout Gout gears up for great Gift
Aussie teen smashes sprint record

QUICK QUIZ
1. Which Aussie runner came first in both the 200m and 100m races?
2. What time did Gout Gout run in the 200m?
3. By how much did Lachlan Kennedy beat Gout Gout in the 200m?
4. How did Gout and Kennedy respond to each other after the race?
5. Who came second in the 100m?

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. New athletics star
What is it about teen running sensation Gout Gout that makes him so popular and that brought out the crowds at the athletics meet in Melbourne?

Look at pictures of Gout and the replay from his race to help you decipher some of his characteristics that make people want to come and see him race.

Write the traits around his name below;

G G

O O

U U

T T

Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
What sort of training and exercises could help Gout improve his first few lengths in a race, since some commentators say his start is a bit “sluggish”?

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Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
BAB it!
Show you have read and understood the article by writing three sentences using the connectives “because’’, “and”, and “but” (BAB). Your sentences can share different facts or opinions, or the same ones but written about in different ways.