National Athletics Championships: Bruce McAvaney gives Gout Gout slight edge against Lachie Kennedy

Channel 7 expert and athletics connoisseur Bruce McAvaney is predicting one of the tightest national championships of all-time and says the headline showdown between Gout Gout and Lachlan Kennedy could all be decided in the final five metres. The pair’s rivalry has become the buzz of Australia’s athletics community, the two essentially vying to be named the country’s fastest man in one of the sport’s most competitive eras. Kennedy has come out on top of the sprinting sensations’ two meetings so far, most recently at last month’s Maurie Plant meet. But McAvaney said going 3-0 would likely be a tough task for Kennedy at the National Championships in Sydney, which will be broadcast on Channel 7 and 7Plus, tipping Gout to have a slight edge when they likely race in the 200m on Sunday. “Lachie’s had the two wins over Gout. Big win at the Marie Plant meet. But Championship racing’s a little different,” he told The West Australian. “Lachie’s going to have a big program. He’s going to do the 100 metres, and he’s got the heat and final of that. Then he’s got the 200m as well, where he has to run a heat and final. “Gout’s going to be a little fresher on Sunday, and I think Gout’s a narrow favourite even though Lachie’s had the better of him in those two races. “I think Lachie’s going to do something special in the 100m and again run exceptionally in the 200m. But I think Gout’s going to be sharpened up by what happened in Melbourne. “It could come down to the last five metres.” McAvaney added the rivalry was the perfect fuel for the pair to prepare for the world stage, suggesting it could push them to special achievements on the world stage, the veteran broadcaster hopeful it could even come at the Brisbane Olympics in 2032. “I think, genuinely, this is a golden time in the sport,” he said. “We have depth, we have more athletes to look at and to enjoy. We have more rivalries than we’ve had in the past. “And that makes a tougher athlete, a more hardened athlete. Someone who goes head-to-head with someone in their country, when they get to international events, which can be intimidating, the fact that they’ve been through this here is excellent preparation.” There’s an increased level of excitement around the National Championships this year, and McAvaney said it all came with the mystique of sprinting, a theatre only going fast can achieve. “It’s an incredible title to be the fastest woman or man on Earth,” he said. “We can all do it. You can go outside, put your shoes on, so can I, and run as fast as we can for 100 metres. There’s nothing stopping us. “So the whole world has an opportunity to do this. And it’s so simple for people to get their head around. “It’s a heavyweight contest. It’s so simple, and yet to be the fastest is so difficult. “They are showmen and women. They are entertainers, and it goes with the swagger of being fast, and it all comes together in this lovely theatre. It’s like a performance, not just a race.”