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Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout has pulled out of the 2026 World Athletics<\/a> U20 Championships and will be sidelined for the rest of the year after suffering a serious hamstring tear.<\/p>\n The 18-year-old had set his sights on becoming a 200m under-20 world champion in the US in August as he tries to emulate the men\u2019s 100m and 200m world record-holder, Jamaican Usain Bolt.<\/p>\n But Gout will now be forced to watch the Eugene event from the sidelines after announcing the shock injury news in a social media post.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately I suffered an injury to my left hamstring last night at training in Brisbane,\u201d Gout said on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI received this morning the MRI report, unfortunately the news is not good and I will not be able to compete in Eugene at the World U20 championships next month.\u201d<\/p>\n Gout revealed the significance of the injury and that the scans had shown a grade three tear with more than 8cm of his hamstring affected.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is partial disruption of the tendon which involves less than 10% of the cross-sectional area of the tendon but extends over an 8cm length,\u201d he quoted from the scan report.<\/p>\n The teenager broke the under-20 200m world record<\/a> at the Australian nationals in April with a time of 19.67s which was later formally ratified by World Athletics in the face of mounting scepticism.<\/p>\n Gout took silver behind South Africa\u2019s Bayanda Walaza in the 200m at the World U20 Athletics Championships in 2024 when finishing in 20.60s while running as a 16-year-old.<\/p>\n More recently Gout made his Diamond League debut in Oslo<\/a>, when he was slow out of the blocks and could only finish sixth in the 200m in June. He also finished third behind training mate Noah Lyles<\/a> in a rarely contested 150m race last month before returning to Australia to continue training.<\/p>\n