“There is a lot of interest after Paris, but also a significant impact from Gout. We are well and truly on the way to seeing a very full stadium. I think it will be [one of] the biggest crowds we have seen since the early 2000s after the Sydney Olympics and Cathy Freeman. And in terms of performance the quality of the meet is the best we have seen for a long time,” Hollingsworth said. Freeman is uniquely placed to understand what Gout is going through, the impact he is having and the burden he is shouldering. She has been as taken as anyone with the Gout story. “[Gout] is just something else,” she told veteran athletics commentator Bruce McAvaney in an interview for Seven’s Spotlight. “Watching him race, it’s like he’s running downhill, like he’s been shot out of a cannon or something. He’s quite extraordinary.