Are you ready, Australia?
Because if you thought the interest in Gout Gout was high before his much-anticipated debut at the World Athletics Championships on Wednesday night, then the way he blitzed into the semifinals will turn that up another notch.
Gout will race in the second of three semifinal heats on Thursday night.
Set your alarms for 10:09pm AEST.
Because even if Gout doesn't get into the final — and there's every likelihood that he will not — this will be appointment viewing.
Gout's promise has been common knowledge for a relatively short amount of time, accelerating from shaky videos of him obliterating high-school fields to the very biggest of stages faster than the 17-year-old can tear down the home straight of a track.
There had always been caveats, though.
Gout was then beating the best of his age group. Schoolboy-level stuff, though. Come back to us when you're running against athletes closer to your own ability.
Well, now he is, racing among the very best in the world.
And boy, doesn't he look the part.
As soon as the gun went off in the Tokyo National Stadium, 21-year-old Bryan Levell took off like a shot, passing the Aussie 40 metres into the bend and pulling away until the straight.
The Jamaican held his form to run a very quick 19.84 — the fastest ever heat run at a world championships.
That would have rattled some. Not Gout.
"The start's not my strong suit, but as soon as I get into my running, I'm chilling," Gout said, still flush with adrenaline soon after his race, yet exuding confidence in himself and his work.
"Obviously, I was a bit nervous, but I just gotta get out here and enjoy being out here."
While Levell took off, the rest of the field were quite compact around the bend, Gout appearing slower due to the speed at which the Jamaican had eliminated the stagger to his outside lane.
Olympic finalist Makanakaishe Charamba, 23, of Zimbabwe, came off the turn nicely and pulled away from the congested pack to seemingly sew up second.
But with the top three qualifying automatically, Gout knew he needed only to finish next and he was in.
"It's a great experience for me, running against the big dogs," Gout said.
"I felt that in my heat, everyone was up against me apart from the top two.
"I hit cruise control in the last 50, last 30. Big Q, that's all I needed."
All he needed. All the Australian public needed. All the world's media needed.
Given all the attention on Gout, it is inevitable that the hyperbole surrounding him will reach fever pitch over the next few days.
It feels like this senior international debut has been anticipated for so long, it's almost as though it has been prophesied.
And with that attention comes a burden of expectation that's hard to reconcile with Gout's youth and inexperience.
Former Commonwealth medallist Dave Culbert gave Gout a "C" for his performance on Channel Nine's coverage.
"I thought he looked anxious at the start. I thought he dwelt when the gun went off and we've seen him run a lot better than that," Culbert said.
Perhaps it's time to add another comment to the mix when we mention Gout at these world championships: Patience.
Patience in that this is his first major competition. Patience in that he is 17 years old.
Because make no mistake, even if Gout was the third-fastest man on paper in his heat, races are not run on start sheets and for a 17-year-old to handle the pressure of racing in front of the biggest crowd he had ever performed for is mighty impressive.
More experienced and accomplished athletes than Gout have made a mess out of qualifying so far this tournament.
Patience is a virtue that cannot be understated when it comes to young athletes in any sport.
"Obviously, there's gonna be expectation wherever I go," Gout said.
"I've just gotta get out there and do my thing and have a bit of fun."
Perhaps Gout is more than capable of handling these extraordinary circumstances.
"These are some of the biggest athletes in the world," he said.
"Some of them I admired when I was younger … just [need to keep] focusing on my lane.
"My mindset is pretty good, so just go out there and do my thing."
Gout says running sub-20 seconds remains the aim, something he will attempt to achieve for the first time with legal wind conditions in the semifinal.
It is, for him, a completely free hit.
"Just run with freedom," he said.
"Free hit and just go out, run like a horse. Run like the wind."
