Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout will be in attendance at the MCG for today's match between Geelong and the Brisbane Lions.
At just 17 years of age, Gout is already a household name as he continues to rewrite the Australian athletics record books.
The Queenslander competed in his first senior competition at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo earlier this month, reaching the semi-finals of the 200m.
He is already the national record holder for the 200m, running 20.04 seconds at the Australian All Schools Championships in December last year, breaking the great Peter Norman’s 20.06s from the 1968 Olympics.
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Considering the timing of the world titles and the AFL grand final, there were whispers back in July that Gout was being sounded out for a possible appearance in the traditional grand final sprint.
“The Grand Final Sprint is a favourite tradition of the day and we are always looking at ways to amplify the race and the public interest in it,” AFL spokesperson Jay Allen said at the time.
“We will make any announcements closer to the AFL Grand Final.”
It was then announced that Gout would not be donning the spikes to take on the quickest footy players in the country.
Instead, he will fire the starter's pistol to get the sprint underway.
The race has a reduced field this year. Rather than a representative of every AFL club, just eight runners are competing at halftime.
Collingwood's Beau McCreery is favoured to defend his title, while Nick Blakey and Maurice Rioli are also considered contenders.
GWS veteran Toby Greene is a surprise entrant, bluntly declaring he has no chance of winning, with Olympic boxer Harry Garside another unusual choice to compete.