Athletics: Gout and Kennedy Race Into the Record Books

Rival Queensland sprinters Gout Gout and Lachlan Kennedy underlined the high-end talent in Australian athletics with boom performances in the national titles in Sydney.

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The 18-year-old Gout took out the 200m final in 19.67 seconds, breaking the previous world under 20 record, and smashing the time of 19.93 seconds set by the legendary Usain Bolt in 2004.

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In doing so, Gout broke his own national record of 20.02 and became the first Australian to clock less than 20 seconds for 200m legally. But he still has a way to go to beat Bolt’s overall world record of 19.19, set 17 years ago in Berlin.

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Kennedy became the first Australian athlete to break 10 seconds on home soil – and he did it twice in two days as he claimed his first national 100m title in Sydney.

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Kennedy, 22, ran 9.96 secs in the heats and repeated that time with an easy win in the final.

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Now he is eyeing Patrick Johnson’s national record of 9.93 secs that has stood for 23 years. “I still feel like I haven’t put together the perfect race, so I think I’ve definitely got more in the tank,” Kennedy said.

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Apart from his rare ability over the 100m trip, Kennedy is well known for his rivalry with Gout. Their clashes over 200m at successive Maurie Plant meetings in Melbourne have ended the same way, with narrow wins to the fast-starting Kennedy.

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F1: Piastri Tops Australian Sport’s Rich List

Melbourne-raised Formula 1 driver Oscar Piastri is Australian sport’s top earner, according to a special report in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. The report found that Piastri earned $57 million to $59 million last year, well clear of golfer Cam Smith ($44m-$46m), and basketballers Josh Giddey ($38m-$40m) and Dyson Daniels ($37m-$39m).

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Piastri’s earnings consisted of his salary and bonuses from the McLaren team, and lucrative advertising and sponsorship deals with Google Pixel, Quad Lock, Monster Energy and Grill’d.

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According to veteran F1 reporter Geoff Harris, Piastri cost his family millions of dollars when he began climbing the rungs of international motorsport.

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First there was a move to England and boarding school fees, then funding his top-level karting, then racing cars – first Formula 4, then Formula 3 and Formula 2 – and travel all over Europe.

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Just as well his father Chris had already made a fortune in his automotive tuning business.

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Oscar Piastri, 25, led the Formula 1 world championship for much of last season but wound up third. If he eventually becomes world champion, even greater riches await.

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Soccer: Spurs and Italy on Struggle Street

Tottenham Hotspur may be regretting parting with Australian Ange Postecoglou, who led the famous north London club to a Europa League title in 2025 shortly before being sacked.

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This season, Spurs have just appointed their third manager. The second, Croatian Igor Tudor, was booted out after just 44 days.

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Spurs sit in the relegation zone with six games left. The club is winless in its past 14 league matches.

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Italian soccer is also in disarray as the national team failed to qualify for the upcoming World Cup again. The four-time champions last won the title in 2006, knocking out the Socceroos after a controversial penalty in the round of 16. Since then, they have been bundled out at the group stage twice and failed to qualify three times in a row.