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FIFA World Cup 2026 scheduleKiwi Hobbs sprints to podium finish at Diamond League, Aussie teen struggles in debut
Ian Chadband, AAP • June 11th, 2026 9:37 am
Zoe Hobbs | Photo: Photosport
Gout Gout has discovered in chastening fashion about life at the very top of global sprinting as the teenage sensation found the going far too hot on his Diamond League debut at the famed Bislett Games meeting in Oslo.
Having looked forward to making his bow against the "big boys" on Thursday (NZ time), the 18-year-old Queenslander was swept aside on a cool, windy evening in the Norwegian capital, finishing only sixth in 20.60 seconds in the 200 metres, nowhere near his world-leading best time of 19.67.
Kiwi sprinter Zoe Hobbs fared much better than her trans-Tasman counterpart, finishing third in the women's 100 metres in another encouraging leading into July's Commonwealth Games.
Hobbs' time of 11.03s was her second-best of the season so far, with Olympic champion Julien Alfred claiming honours in a time of 10.76s.
The result sees her claim her first podium finish since 2025 in Monaco, where she also finished third.
Gout Gout | Photo: AAP
On race eve, Gout had talked of how it was Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo, not Usain Bolt, who'd been his sprint idol growing up.
Well, the 23-year-old master Tebogo gave the apprentice a bit of a lesson in the lane outside Gout on Thursday, as the Botswanan champion raced to victory in 19.84sec, a superb performance on a cool evening and on what's not considered the quickest of tracks.
Gout had looked a little ungainly with his slow start from the blocks and was well down by the time they all hit the bend, and his trademark late charge never really made inroads against a world-class field, with South African Sinesipho Dambile (20.12) second and Trinidad's Jereem Richards (20.50) third.
All three podium finishers were 19.80sec half-lap sprinters, so there was hardly any disgrace in being beaten by them, nor by fourth-placed Cuban Reynier Mena (20.53) and fifth-place Swiss Tomothe Mumenthaler (20.58).
With additional reporting by Sport Nation
