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  Tim MacMahonOct 22, 2025, 01:24 AM ET

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  • Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009
  • Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks
  • Appears regularly on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM

OKLAHOMA CITY — The symbolism didn’t strike Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the moment as the clock ticked down in the second overtime of Tuesday night’s season opener against the Rockets.

His sole focus was on trying to figure out a way to score the winning points, not on the fact Kevin Durant was defending him. The superstar matchup in the deciding moments of a thrilling season opener probably wasn’t lost on the Paycom Center sellout crowd, which spent the night booing Durant and celebrating Gilgeous-Alexander and his Thunder teammates after finally watching a championship banner raised to the rafters.

“Just trying to get to a shot I’m comfortable shooting in those moments,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “My brain is so in the moment that all those things I don’t even realize.”

Instead of creating a clean look, Gilgeous-Alexander got Durant to bite on a pump fake and foul him. The reigning MVP sank both free throws with 2.3 seconds left, capping a 35-point performance to lift the defending champions to a 125-124 win. Gilgeous-Alexander spoiled Durant’s debut with the Rockets, his fourth team since his free agency departure from the Thunder that is still a sore subject in Oklahoma City more than nine years later.

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Gilgeous-Alexander described the pregame ceremony to celebrate last season’s championship as “surreal.” Durant and the Rockets retreated to the visitors locker room as the Thunder received their championship rings — featuring more than 800 custom-cut, hand-set diamonds and gemstones — before raising the championship banner alongside the center scoreboard.

“It felt like it was going up for 10 minutes,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It was an amazing moment. I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.”

It took Gilgeous-Alexander most of the game to find a rhythm against the supersized Rockets’ swarming, physical defense, which prioritized forcing the ball out of his hands as much as possible while his All-NBA co-star, Jalen Williams, watched from the bench as he recovers from offseason wrist surgery.

Houston held Gilgeous-Alexander to five points in the first half, fewer than any of his halftime totals from last season, when he led the league with 32.7 points per game. Power forward/center Chet Holmgren scored 18 of his 28 points in the first half to keep the Thunder within striking distance despite Gilgeous-Alexander’s uncharacteristically quiet start.

Gilgeous-Alexander managed only five shots from the field in the first two quarters, committing three turnovers and dishing out only one assist despite repeatedly passing out of double-teams.

“He just stays in the game,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “It wasn’t a perfect night for him, but he just stays in it. He understands the 48-minute nature. He understands the 82-game nature. It’s not always going to be perfect. And tonight wasn’t perfect for us collectively. And the guys just kind of played the next play, never lost our focus or resolve.”

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter — after Oklahoma City trailed by as many as 12 points — that Gilgeous-Alexander found any sort of groove. He had 12 points in that quarter, one more than he had in the first three quarters combined, highlighted by a tough midrange pull-up jumper over a tight contest by All-Defensive stopper Amen Thompson to tie the score with three seconds remaining.

“As the game went on, naturally the coverages got looser,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who was 12-of-26 from the field but only 1-of-9 from 3-point range. “I was able to get downhill and to my spots a little bit.”

Gilgeous-Alexander added 12 points in the two overtime periods. He had a chance to win it on the final possession of the first overtime, but Houston’s Tari Eason got a piece of the ball on his baseline jumper. Gilgeous-Alexander scored five points in the final minute as Oklahoma City came back and closed the door.

“You can’t hold down great players all game,” Oklahoma City forward Alex Caruso said. “You can do a job for a while. I think he still ended up with 35, and he had a slow night. That’s just him.”

According to ESPN Research, Gilgeous-Alexander became only the third reigning MVP to record at least 35 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a season opener, joining Stephen Curry in 2015 and Shaquille O’Neal in 2000. Gilgeous-Alexander also had two blocks and two steals, making multiple clutch defensive plays.

“I need to be better,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We need to be better than what we just did. We’re going to be a better team in a few months, but I fully believe this team will use tonight as a learning experience. … It was ugly tonight, but I’d rather it be ugly in a win than a loss for sure.”

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Getting booed off after your first match, and booed off with a fair degree of vituperation to boot, was not how Jack Wilshere intended his managerial career to begin. But that was what he endured as he led his players off the Kenilworth Road pitch past a seething Luton fanbase, who two years ago were loving life in the Premier League.

A 2-0 defeat by Nigel Cloughâ€s Mansfield was no disgrace, a finely balanced contest decided by the chances Luton failed to take and those that Mansfield didnâ€t. It was a loss that left the hosts 14th in League One, eight points off the playoff spots, but Clough was positive about Lutonâ€s prospects of turning things around under Wilshere, and surely that is correct. It would be wrong, though, not to note that there was an eerie note of fatalism in the ground, even as an apparent new era was only just getting under way.

Wilshere said the end of the match would not tarnish his memory of the beginning, when the former Arsenal star was serenaded on to the pitch with chants of “Super Jack†and the crowd were on their feet applauding. “It was probably one of the best moments of my career,†he said. “I felt the love, I heard the noise.†He also put the result down to technical errors, albeit mistakes that allowed a longstanding lack of confidence among his players to come to the surface.

“When you come from the Premier League straight to League One in two seasons, there obviously is something [going on],†he said. “So we knew that, we have to find out what it is, and I think we know what it is. We just have to find ways of being able to give the players more confidence. Iâ€ve said to them before, I want them to really feel the belief I have in them, and that doesnâ€t change.â€

Quick GuideLeague One roundup: Salech on target as Cardiff take top spotShow

Reyes Cleary’s stunning goal for Barnsley from inside his own half was the highlight of a 2-2 draw at Bradford, with the Bantams manager, Graham Alexander, calling the 60-yard strike “world class”. Patrick Kelly earned the visitors a point, cancelling out goals from Antoni Sarcevic and Stephen Humphrys.

Yousef Salech fired Cardiff to the top of the League One table in a 2-1 home win over Reading. Lewis Wing had given the hosts the lead, but after Omari Kellyman had pegged them back, Salech struck to secure the three points. That was enough to ease the Welsh side above Stevenage, who lost 1-0 at Lincoln after Rob Street’s first league goal for the Imps. AFC Wimbledon are level on 25 points with Stevenage and Bradford after a 2-1 win at Plymouth thanks to goals from Omar Bugiel and Marcus Browne, as are Stockport, who beat Exeter 1-0 with Nathan Lowe the scorer.

Jack Wilshere’s first game as Luton manager ended in defeat as his side went down 2-0 at home to Mansfield. Hatters striker Nahki Wells saw a first-half penalty saved before Rhys Oates and, from the spot, Tyler Roberts struck for the visitors. Northampton’s Sam Hoskins was also successful from 12 yards in a 2-1 win at Doncaster, who had taken the lead through Ben Close before Ethan Wheatley levelled.

Archie Collins handed Peterborough a 1-0 win at fellow strugglers Burton despite Tom Lees’ late red card, and Sam Nombe was Rotherham’s match winner as they beat Leyton Orient by the same scoreline.

Maleace Asamoah fired Wigan to a 1-0 home victory over Port Vale despite playing the second half with 10 men after Dara Costelloe’s dismissal, while managerless Blackpool surrendered two points at home to Wycombe when Jack Grimmer cancelled out Ashley Fletcher’s goal in the 12th minute of stoppage time. PA Media

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The link between a team and its fans is almost as crucial to a clubâ€s success as that between players and coach. When one side is at odds with the other, bad results often follow. Increasingly in the modern era, however, fans and players seem to mirror each other. That lack of confidence and belief Wilshere noted in his players, was also clearly detectable among the support.

Luton recorded their biggest crowd of the season, at 11,784, but the atmosphere in the town and around the ground was subdued. Among the crowd was Elk Walsh, from Adelaide, who had followed Luton all of his life because of his parents†affiliations and was now making his first trip to the ground. Walsh described himself as “eternally hopeful†in the manner you would expect from someone who had flown across the world to watch lower league football. But he also described Wilshereâ€s appointment as “spinning the wheel†and was still upset at the clubâ€s decision to dispense with the stalwart midfielder Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu in the summer. More frustrating still, he said, was his teamâ€s failure to score goals: “I feel like weâ€re never going to score sometimes, like weâ€re battling against an invisible force and I donâ€t understand why.â€

Luton fans display a welcome message to the new manager, Jack Wilshere, and the assistant, Chris Powell, at the start of the match. Photograph: Marc Atkins/Getty Images

That invisible force was present on the Kenilworth Road pitch again as Luton emerged from a sticky opening period to take control of the game, but never scored. Their best player, Jordan Clark, who sat in Wilshereâ€s old No 10 position and impressed with some delicate touches, saw a beautiful effort clawed out of a top corner by Mansfieldâ€s Liam Roberts on the half-hour. Almost immediately after he won a penalty with a slaloming run, only for Nahki Wells to strike a tame effort into Robertsâ€s midriff. Seven minutes after that, Wells misplaced a pass awfully in the centre of the field and the Mansfield striker Rhys Oates was able to hit an effort almost identical to Clarkâ€s, albeit with the one key difference that it flew into the back of the net.

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From then on there was no sense that a team who have lost 53 games in the past two and a bit seasons were going to turn things around. An ungainly handball on the hour led to a penalty which Tyler Roberts rolled past Josh Keeley, and Mansfield eased their way to victory. Luton, meanwhile, struggled to make a pass or take a decision that wasnâ€t the wrong one.

How do a club and the town they belong to pull themselves out of a spiral of doom and gloom? For Wilshere it is a case of sticking together, learning lessons and building confidence. For Clough, who had taken charge of a remarkable 1,544th game as a manager and has Mansfield ninth, there is also a question of expectations and perspective. “Weâ€re at Mansfield enjoying life in League One,†he said. “Weâ€ve been in it for a season and a bit now, the first time that the club has stayed in the division for 35 years. So weâ€re enjoying ourselves and if we get anywhere near the top six, itâ€ll be a major bonus. Luton are expected to be in that top six, and itâ€s a different thing to deal with. Completely different.â€

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The curtain call has come for another beloved tennis star: the veteran French player Gaël Monfils will retire at the end of the 2026 season, his 22nd year on the menâ€s tour. In a social media post announcing the news on Wednesday, Monfils struck an upbeat tone, thanking family and fans while doffing a cap at the range of opponents he was privileged to face during the gameâ€s “golden ageâ€; prominent among his mentions were Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic – the only one in that group who is still playing. And while history is likely to remember the 39-year-old Monfils – whose résumé includes nearly 600 match victories, a career-best No 6 singles ranking and more than $24m in on-court earnings – as one of the more unfortunate victims of the Big Four epoch, he makes a compelling counterargument for style over stats.

Federer, Nadal, Murray and Djokovic may have all the titles. But while they were stifling three generations†worth of tennis muscle, Monfils emerged as the eraâ€s most dazzling performer. For years US tennis commentators groused about the home federation not doing enough to steer the countryâ€s best young athlete away from other stick-and-ball sports and make American tennis great again. But itâ€s obvious now that the player they were constructing in their minds was Monfils: a 6ft4in skein of fast-twitch sinews, with the devilâ€s own forehand tacked on for good measure. In his own social media post, the estimable coach Patrick Mouratoglou framed his compatriotâ€s retirement as a mighty blow to the sport. “Tennis needs players like him,†he wrote. “They are so rare.†An athletic prodigy since elementary school, Monfils underscored his special talent after claiming victories in Franceâ€s under-13 and under-14 100m championships. His athletics coach at the time thought he could make an Olympics sprint final on that potential alone.

Monfilsâ€s career highlight reel looks like something out of NBA Inside Stuff: tomahawking overheads, blind tweeners that clip the line, Rodman-esque full extension retrievals. The first time I saw Monfils play up close, in the 2008 US Open third round against 2002 Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian, I could not believe what I was seeing: a dirt baller, skidding around the hard court at Louis Armstrong Stadium as his poor sneakers wailed for relief. His Marvel-esque feats on-court rightly inspired a raft of nicknames – Slider-Man, the Flying Frenchman. In the end he went with La Monf, a term of endearment that dates to childhood. That it abided speaks to the tremendous respect Monfils commands from fans, ever keen to put their personal spin on their favorites.

Gaël Monfilsâ€s career highlight reel looks like something out of NBA Inside Stuff: tomahawking overheads, blind tweeners that clip the line, Rodman-esque full extension retrievals. Photograph: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Youâ€d be hard-pressed to find any stories about Monfils letting the superhero hype go to his head: no icy fan interactions, no media meltdowns, no egomaniacal spiraling. But thatâ€s not to mistake Monfils for another unfeeling robo-jock. Where Federer or Murray might shrug off a freak winner as routine brilliance, La Monf oh là lÃs along with his gawkers – as if a mere mortal vessel for the divine. Djokovic, who played Monfils for the first time on a US Open outer court in 2005, called him one of the best athletes heâ€d ever seen in a recent tribute – and heâ€s hardly one to exaggerate. I suspect there are a fair number of us Monfils diehards who would pay to watch him hit balls against a garage door, just to see what kind of spectacle he could make of that. “I always admired you,†wrote Madrid Open tournament director Feliciano López, who only faced Monfils twice over the course of their staggeringly long careers and beat him both times.

Overall, Monfils shouldâ€ve been more of a contender. The son of a Guadeloupe-born professional soccer player, Monfils set expectations high as a 15-year-old junior player, coming a US Open trip shy of notching a calendar slam in 2004. He turned pro later that year and faced national pressure to consolidate a tennis renaissance alongside Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon; the hope was that these nouveau mousquetaires would be as dominant as the René Lacoste-led quartet enshrined at Roland Garros. But in the end Monfilsâ€s Four Musketeers were no match for the Big Four.

Gaël Monfils plays a backhand at Roland Garros. Photograph: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty Images

Only Tsonga made it to a grand slam final and lost to Djokovic in the 2008 Australian Open for the first of the Serbâ€s record 24 majors. Gasquet never got farther than the semi-finals of Wimbledon and the US Open, and Simon was a slam quarter-finalist twice. Meanwhile, Monfils was cruising at the 2008 French Open until he ran into Federer in the semi-final, and steamrolling through the 2016 US Open bracket until he drew Djokovic in the semis – a four-set loss that makes for a juicy tennis history what-if. Had Monfils made it through to the final, he would have faced Switzerlandâ€s Stan Wawrinka, who went on to beat Djokovic for his third and final major. Up to that point Monfils essentially had a coin-flip record against Wawrinka, the Federer sidekick who became a legit legend seemingly out of nowhere. Itâ€s tempting to think of what might have been had the gameâ€s best showman came together with the eraâ€s biggest disrupter for a style-points Super Bowl of sorts. Wawrinkaâ€s backhand is porn.

Predictably, Monfilsâ€s failures led to harsher scrutiny: about him choosing spectacle over strategy, about his fundamentally defensive playing style, about his perceived lack of commitment. Early in his career Monfils was criticized for touring without a dedicated coach when Federer was the only player getting away with that. But looking back, what was a coach gonna say to Monfils that he wasnâ€t already hearing from the crowds he so routinely energizes? (Some version of: NonononoYESSSSS!) Famously, after losing to Federer in straight sets at a 2006-opening stop in Doha, Monfils elbowed his way into a Las Vegas paddle tennis tournament and ousted the worldâ€s top paddle tennis player on the way to winning the whole shebang. The longer you cheer Monfils, the more you learn to take the good with the bad and just sit back and savor the ride.

Gaël Monfilsâ€s résumé includes nearly 600 match victories, a career-best No 6 singles ranking and more than $24m in on-court earnings. Photograph: Martin Keep/AFP/Getty Images

Now that Monfils is rounding the final corner to fully ensconce himself in #girldadlife with his forever doubles partner, former world No 3 Elina Svitolina, there seems little point in second-guessing the road not traveled. In January, Monfils became the oldest player to win an ATP tournament, claiming his 13th title 20 years after his first to take at least one record off Federer. Starting in 2005, Monfils had reached at least one singles final every year for 19 straight years – a feat only Djokovic and Nadal have equaled. Throughout Monfils held his head high in the face of racial animosity, and his broader influence as a cultural trailblazer is a legacy that isnâ€t talked about nearly enough. Naomi Osaka, Monfilsâ€s US Open doubles partner, was among the welter of peers who described the Frenchman as an inspiration.

No, Monfils didnt get the better of the Big Four, but heâ€s still got a shot against the Big Two – assuming he can bounce back from nagging wrist and ankle injuries and catch Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner slipping. Otherwise, the game plan remains the same: keep expectations modest, stay in the moment and give the people what they want. “You could have, you should have – Iâ€ve never thought this way,†he wrote, “and frankly Iâ€m far too old to start doing so now. Life is too short. Believe me when I say that I have no regrets.â€

So much of sports discourse these days is a fevered competition to prove whoâ€s best by taking inventory of trophies, rings and other shiny baubles. But by playing tennis on his own terms and with singular vigor and panache, Monfils stands apart as a stark exemplar of the valor in defending the interior kingdom of the self. Enjoy the show while you still can.

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CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — There was a time when Marc-Andre Fleury would take days like Friday for granted. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, too.

Days when the four players most closely associated with the Pittsburgh Penguins†run of excellence 2008-17 — an era in which they played for the Stanley Cup four times and raised it above their head in triumph three — would spend an hour competing against each other during training camp, gather for a picture afterward for whomever might stop by and think nothing of it.

Not this time. Not when it was the last time.

And it is, the second-winningest goalie in NHL history stressed, the last time.

Wearing a specially-made mask featuring various symbols of his 21-year career and the No. 29 jersey that may someday soon find itself hanging in the rafters at PPG Paints Arena, Fleury made it a point to drink in every last moment of his final practice as a professional ahead of a one-period cameo during the Penguins†preseason game against Columbus on Saturday.

Skating onto the ice in front of several hundred fans who chanted his name and carried signs like “We Came All The Way From Canada To See You Come Home,†Fleury did what he did nearly every day of his two-plus decade stay in the NHL: he leaned into it.

There he was, theatrically flopping his signature yellow pads in an attempt to stop a Crosby deflection. There he was, laughing after robbing Letang with a glove save. There he was, making Malkin shake his head after turning the Russian star away from in close.

“That might be what I love the most (about hockey), just to be on the ice and have a lot of shots, see the guys a bunch (and) be able to chirp a little bit,†Fleury said afterward while sitting in his familiar corner stall inside the clubâ€s dressing room. “Yeah, itâ€s a lot of fun for me.â€

The 40-year-old officially retired from the NHL as a member of the Minnesota Wild in the spring but signed a professional tryout contract with the Penguins earlier this month after being approached by Pittsburgh general manager Kyle Dubas, who wanted the future Hall of Famer to take one final bow in the city where he remains beloved nearly a decade since leaving in the 2017 expansion draft.

While the pathologically upbeat Fleury joked afterward he wished he had more stamina, for about 90 minutes there were flashes of the form — and the style — that helped the Penguins morph from the worst team in the league when he arrived as the top overall pick in the 2003 draft to two-time defending Stanley Cup champions when he left.

“Itâ€s just the enthusiasm,†Crosby said. “I think the energy that he brings, itâ€s really unique.â€

The franchise relied on that energy, particularly early on in Fleuryâ€s 13-year stay. Wins were hard to come by in the early days as the Penguins poured the foundation of what came as close to a dynasty as the NHL allows in the salary-cap era.

Yet the losing and the pressure never seemed to get to Fleury. He simply kept moving forward. Six years after he arrived, the player universally known as “Flower†sealed the franchiseâ€s third championship by making a diving stop of Detroitâ€s Nicklas Lidstrom in the waning seconds of Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup finals.

The save — an athletically unorthodox act of desperation that encapsulated his talent — cemented Fleuryâ€s spot in Penguins history. And while he went on to have great success elsewhere, including guiding the expansion Vegas Golden Knights to the Cup finals in 2018 and winning the Vezina Trophy as the gameâ€s top goalie in 2021, Pittsburgh was never too far from his mind. Or his heart.

Every return trip to the city where he came of age over the last eight years felt a little strange. Not just for Fleury but for a crowd thrilled to see him while simultaneously hoping heâ€d lose.

Those mixed emotions for all involved are gone now and his unexpected (if brief) return represents a full-circle moment not just for Fleury, but the Penguins.

While Crosby remains a force at 38, Pittsburgh is no longer a playoff fixture. Dubas is overseeing a youth movement that includes young goaltenders like Sergei Murashov, who wasnâ€t even born when Fleury made his NHL debut. Fleury spent a portion of practice kneeling alongside the 21-year-old Russian, listening and offering a little bit of advice.

Asked what that advice might be, one of the leagueâ€s notorious practical jokers just laughed.

“‘You better try hard, Iâ€m coming to take your spot,â€â€ Fleury said.

Only, heâ€s not. Though he thinks his wife Veronique is “tired of him already,†Fleury has not had any second thoughts about stepping away from the game he played so passionately and so well for so long.

“Iâ€ve found out thereâ€s nothing else I can do. Thereâ€s nothing else I can do that will fulfill that hole, right, of playing hockey,†Fleury said. “But at the same time, Iâ€m older, slower, more hurt, you know, a little more sore, and less flexible, less fast, maybe.

“Yeah, I think itâ€s time.â€

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The subways and shopping malls in Tokyo were busy on Monday for the national public holiday to celebrate “respect for the aged dayâ€. Four storeys up, inside Adidas†hospitality fortress a walk from Japanâ€s National Stadium, the sentiment was different. Here, a room filled with international press bowed at the altar of athletics†new prodigy.

Gout Gout, the 17-year-old Australian who will compete in the 200m at the World Athletics Championships on Wednesday, is faster than Usain Bolt was at the same age. His spectacular performances and gleaming grin have swamped social media. And he has been promoted by his sponsor as well as World Athletics as one of the faces of the meet.

Yet when the Ipswich Grammar student walked out to face the cameras from behind the sliding translucent doors adorned with the three stripes at his single pre-meet media engagement, he appeared nervous. Gout put his left hand in his pocket, and offered an awkward smile and hand gesture to the press as he approached the stage. “Itâ€s a long walk,†offered the host, Adidas†senior athletics executive Spencer Nel, in part to ease the tension.

When Gout finally made it to the microphone, he said he was still getting used to the press interest and life as what Nel terms a “next generational iconâ€. Bumping into athletics†A-listers in the championships†hotel was for Gout, “a bit surreal, for realâ€.

The Australianâ€s top-end speed is world class, but he admits his starts need improvement. The same could be said for this Q&A. In excess of two dozen journalists and television crews were in attendance to hear Gout say he is excited to be in Tokyo and is aiming to run faster than he has before.

But once the conversation warmed up, Gout found his stride. He explained his familyâ€s journey from South Sudan to Brisbane – the third largest city in Australia and host of the 2032 Olympics – and he agreed that his trajectory towards those Games had a sense of destiny.

He opened up about how he has been able to find patience despite his near-overnight success. “Balancing that ambition and telling myself it takes time is definitely something important,†he said. “I struggled a bit during the start [of my career] but now I know that things donâ€t happen overnight. Like, Iâ€m only 17.â€

By the end of the 45-minute session, there were many morsels on which the press could feed. Gout said he still shares a room with his older brother, who “probably makes a bigger mess compared to meâ€. He revealed he plays video games Fortnite, Minecraft and Zelda, and was “a hard gamer before I was a track athleteâ€.

In a question from a British journalist about what he does away from the track and whether he will watch cricketâ€s Ashes, Gout was honest: “Iâ€m definitely more a doom-scroller, just TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and talking to my friends.â€

Goutâ€s on-track accomplishments are generational. He eclipsed Australiaâ€s previous 200m record which had stood for 56 years, and is already the countryâ€s senior national champion. However, three-quarters of an hour with Gout offered more than one reminder of just how young he is.

His favourite food? “Pizza. Oh wait, burgers. Burgers. Burgers.†Favourite drink? Peach iced tea. To a question of what irritates him, the year 12 student genuinely couldnâ€t find an answer, before offering “probably examsâ€.

Yet more enduring personality traits were evident. He praised his parents Bona and Monica as having focus, motivation, integrity and confidence. “All those things theyâ€ve definitely instilled in me,†he said. “Theyâ€re hard working as well, so coming over here Iâ€ve instilled hard work into myself,†he said. He shared insights about his “strong†relationship with coach Di Sheppard, saying “we bring ideas from both endsâ€. And he acknowledged his close connection to American star Noah Lyles, a source of “advice†and “tipsâ€.

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Gout wonâ€t finish his school exams until later this year. He is considering studying psychology at university, to complement his life on the track. He has also cast his mind even further ahead, to what kind of legacy he might leave in athletics.

“Just being someone people can look at [and think] he was good, he was ‘that guyâ€,†he said. “Being an inspiration to people older than me, people younger than me, people the same age, just people that donâ€t even do track potentially, just being able to be that someone who started off as a nobody and became someone really, really good.â€

In Tokyo, Gout is experiencing the full attention of the worldâ€s sporting press for the first time, as part of his arrival on the senior international athletics scene. This was therefore an important milestone in a career widely tipped for greatness.

Nel described Gout afterwards as a “fine young man†and a natural performer. “When you see a young man of 17 up there with the worldâ€s media in front of him, and heâ€s so confident answering the questions thoughtfully and insightfully, I do think heâ€s a precociously special talent.â€

The day finished with Nel reminding those present they could not accommodate one-on-one interviews, and asking press to “leave Mr Gout to have some lunch and spend some time with his Adidas familyâ€. Gout put the microphone down and stepped off the stage. The first person to meet him was Adidas chief executive Bjørn Gulden, who hugged the teenager and told him, “well doneâ€.

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