The 17-year-old clocked 20.23 after a slow start to finish third in his heat at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, with the top-three of the six heats progressing to tomorrow's semi-final.
Despite having a lot of work to do around the bend, Gout gained momentum throughout the straight to secure third place behind Jamaica's Bryan Levell (19.84), who is one of the favourites to win the gold medal, and Zimbabwe's Makanakaishe Charamba (20.06).
Gout eventually qualified with the 12th fastest time of the heats and is through to the semi-final on Thursday evening, the first of which begins at 10:02pm AEST.
He has previously stated his aim at his first senior World Championships is to break the 20-second barrier regardless of where he finishes, having recently set a personal best of 20.02 at a Diamond League meeting in Ostrava.
