Australia’s chef de mission for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games has expressed her excitement that athletes want to compete next year in Scotland following Gout Gout’s announced intention to race.
Gout had initially been expected to prioritise the August 5-9 world junior titles in the United States, where he wants to emulate the great Usain Bolt, who won the under-20 200-metre title back in 2002.
But Gout is now set to contest the Commonwealth 100m event in Glasgow, before heading to the US for the 200m at the world juniors.
Petria Thomas, Australia’s Glasgow 2026 chef de mission, told ABC Sport: “It’s very exciting when our best athletes publicly announce their intention to be at the Games.”
“There is of course qualification processes that all of our athletes will need to go through, a lot can happen in the year leading into a Games,” Thomas said.
“It’s really exciting that the athletes are saying they want to compete in the Games and we’re looking forward to having our best athletes possible on our team ready to go in a year’s time.”
Gout is in line to do something Bolt never did by running as an individual at the Commonwealth Games.
The Jamaican legend was part of his country’s gold medal-winning 4x100m men’s relay team at Glasgow 2014.
Gout’s participation will further boost Australia’s hopes of again topping the medal tally, which it has done in eight of the last nine Games dating back to 1990.
Glasgow’s pared-down Games will feature 10 sports, nine less than in 2022 in Birmingham.
Sports which Australia has traditionally dominated such as hockey, rugby sevens and diving have been axed from the games.
But 82 per cent of the nation’s medal events in Birmingham 2022 remain on the Glasgow program.
Commonwealth Games Australia boss Craig Phillips told AAP that despite the condensed program, Australia still has ambitions to stay atop the medal tally in Scotland.
“We have ambitions to remain top of the medal tally, which is a stated ambition of ours all the time,” Phillips said.
“We really think that our athletes can do that. What that number takes, it will take.
“But we’re pretty confident that we’ll put our athletes in the best possible position to do that.”
ABC/AAP