Gout Gout says he is ‘ready to rumble’ ahead of World Athletics Championships debut
Australian teenage sprint phenomenon Gout Gout has declared his legs are “ready to rumble” ahead of his major international debut on Wednesday at the World Athletics Championships.The 17-year-old participated in a panel session with international press on Monday, his only pre-meet media opportunity, as he prepares to contest the 200m in Tokyo.Gout was asked what his legs would tell him if they could talk.“They’ll be ready to go, like in F1 when the cars are warming up the tyres,” he said, making a swerving gesture with his hands.“They’ll be just … ready to rumble, that’s what they’d say.
”The confident teenager admitted he does have some nerves ahead of his major international debut.“[I have] a few butterflies [in my stomach], but I’ve done the work to be here, so it’s just going out there and executing the race plan,” he said.“It’s going out there, having a little bit of fun and just focusing the best I can and just going out there and enjoying my first experience.”He said he has been starstruck at times when he comes across the world’s top athletic talent around him in Tokyo.“I’m seeing these athletes I’ve seen on TV my whole life.
I’m like, this is crazy,” he said.“But when I think about it, I kind of deserve this place and I have run the times, so I was meant to be here for sure.”He explained his main goal was to improve on his personal best time of 20.02sec.“Hopefully if I can make it to the semis, that’s even greater, and then if I make it into the final that’s a big success,” he said.
The year 12 student said he was considering studying psychology at university, perhaps after a gap year, and was most interested in its application to sport.He revealed he has been working on his mindset to ensure he performs to his ability in Tokyo.Sign up to Australia SportGet a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports deskafter newsletter promotion“Just telling myself that I deserve to be here, I’m in the same boat as everyone else,” he said.“Not trying to put too much pressure on myself, but putting enough pressure where I can go out there and just run very fast and just really have fun with it.”The Australian said he has appreciated learning from Noah Lyles, the American sprinter who shares the same sponsor.
“The advice Noah gave me is ‘learn how to say no’ because obviously you can’t say yes all the time, so learning how to say no,” he said,“It might make you feel uncomfortable, [but] you don’t have to explain yourself as well, because being an athlete you’re going through different stages in life, and you’ve got to say no because you’ve got to have your own personal time,”
Prisons in England and Wales to cut spending on education courses by up to 50%
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NHS access to promising sleeping pill daridorexant is patchy, say doctors
Tens of thousands of prescriptions have been issued in England for a promising and non-addictive new sleeping pill, but doctors say NHS uptake is being held back by cost and patchy awareness.Daridorexant, approved last year, has been prescribed 67,000 times since November 2023, at an estimated cost of £2.6m to the NHS. The drug has been hailed for helping people fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer and wake up clear-headed – without the dependency risks of traditional pills.But access is uneven
Online misinformation putting women off contraceptive pill, study finds
Social media misinformation about the contraceptive pill is encouraging women to view it so negatively that many give it up, a study has found.Researchers have identified myths spread on TikTok and other social media platforms as a key driver of users suffering side-effects that are real but psychological in origin. It is called the “nocebo effect”, the opposite of the better-known placebo effect.Experiencing it is closely linked to anxiety, depression and fatigue, with experts saying people become “wary of anything that they believe might make [the conditions] worse”. This, in turn, spurs on the effect
Has the meaning of life been within us all along? | Letters
I was gladdened to read Moya Sarner’s reflections on a life enhanced by deeper meaning and more textured joy (A better life is possible – but only if you dive deep into your unconscious, 8 September). In a culture that too often celebrates relentless acquisition and action, her words offer timely encouragement towards another way of being.She observes: “We do to stay in the shallows, so we don’t have to be in the depths. But we know the way to a better life sits below the surface, not on it.” This image of the deep sea is an apt and illuminating metaphor for the hidden interior universe of currents and forces that shape us
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