Australian dash star Gout Gout is not going to race at 2026 Commonwealth Games | Gout Gout

The Australian dash sensation Gout Gout has determined to not compete at this 12 months’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The 18-year-old will as an alternative concentrate on the world under-20 championships in August, the place he hopes to emulate the legendary Usain Bolt. The two occasions are going down back-to-back, with Gout and his assist group deeming it unwise for him to contest each so early in his burgeoning profession.

“It is [a big decision],” Gout instructed the Seven Network. “[The Commonwealth Games] is a great event and it’s one of those big meetings everyone loves. But looking at it, it is definitely a better decision going for the world under-20s.”

The world under-20s assembly – previously referred to as the world junior championships – will happen from 5-9 August in Eugene, Oregon, on the similar stadium that hosted the 2022 world championships.

Before occurring to dominate world sprinting and rewrite the file books, Bolt kicked off his profession with 200m gold on the 2002 world juniors. Gout, who was second within the half-lap race on the world under-20 championships in Lima on the age of 16, has usually spoken of his want to emulate Bolt’s feat.

Gout had been flagged as a possible 100m medallist in Glasgow, and his absence will probably be a major blow to the Australian group, and the occasion as an entire.

Australia’s Commonwealth Games group chef de mission, Petria Thomas, stated she understood {the teenager}’s choice to tug out of the Games, which run from 23 July to 2 August.

“Gout is a remarkable talent and although he won’t be in Glasgow, we hope to see him don the green and gold at a Commonwealth Games in the future,” Thomas stated.

“I believe it’s vital that all of us keep in mind he’s 18 and stays on the rise. He has a protracted profession forward of him and we respect his choice to prioritise the world under-20 championships as he builds in the direction of a house Olympic Games at Brisbane 2032.’’

Australian Athletics has additionally supported Gout’s choice to concentrate on the junior championships. The teenager from Queensland has grow to be a cult determine after exploding on to the worldwide athletics scene within the final two years.

After breaking Peter Norman’s 56-year-old 200m Australian file in late 2024, Gout made world headlines in 2025 with a world championships debut and 200m semi-final look in Japan.