Teenage sprint sensation Gout Gout has broken the world Under-20 record in the 200 metres, finishing with a time of 19.67 seconds to win the race at the Australian Athletics Championships.
Gout became the first Australian to break the 20-second barrier in Sydney on Sunday, with his record-breaking feat making him faster than the Jamaican great Usain Bolt at the same age.
Fellow Australian Aidan Murphy also cracked the 20-second mark, coming second with 19.88 – the two quickest times of the year, both achieved with a legal tailwind.
“This is what I’ve been waiting for,” said Gout at the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre.
“We have such incredible athletes in Australia, and me being able to race these athletes, we push each other to the limits. Two Australians sub-20. I mean, this is amazing.”
Gout’s spectacular effort with a legal +1.7-metres-per-second tailwind meant that the 18-year-old defended his 200m title and sent out a warning to his rivals.
He also eclipsed the previous world Under-20 mark set by Erriyon Knighton, while improving on his own national record of 20.02 set last year.
Gout’s record run marked the first time he has gone below 20 seconds in legal conditions, after achieving the feat last year with the aid of a tailwind when he clocked 19.84 at the national championships.
His time was faster than Bolt’s, who ran 19.93 in 2004, at the same age.
“There’s a big weight off my shoulders knowing I ran it legally, and I have the speed and my body to run times like that. So, it definitely feels great, and I’m ready for more,” Gout said.
“I wrote down 19.75 seconds , and for the past week in my head I’ve been telling myself I’m running 19.75 and obviously – 19.67 – you’ve got to love it.”
Born to Monica and Bona on December 29, 2007, he is one of seven siblings in the Gout family who migrated to Australia from South Sudan in 2005 and settled in the eastern state of Queensland.
In Gout’s hometown Ipswich, Queensland, his school’s experienced track and field coach Diane Sheppard swiftly took the young boy under her wing upon spotting his talent.
His first taste of success came at the age of 13, when he won the 100-metre and 200-metre races in a school competition, but the lanky teenager remained humble and earned plaudits from his coach.
“My biggest thing with the kids is about being humble, and he has got it in bucket loads,” Sheppard told Australian Athletics in 2022.
Despite his rapid rise on the track, it was not until December 2024 that the rest of the world took notice of his prodigious talent.
The 18-year-old burst onto the scene when he clocked 20.04 seconds at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships.
It shattered Peter Norman’s national record of 20.06 from the 1968 Olympics and was the quickest ever by a 16-year-old.
He had improved to 20.02 but had never gone below 20 seconds legally before.
Gout’s run came on the final day of competition, after his main rival, Lachlan Kennedy, pulled out of the 200m race as a precaution, with his management citing the need to manage his workload early in a long season.
Kennedy nonetheless underlined his form by winning the 100 metres in 9.96 seconds on Saturday, repeating the time he ran in the heats to become the first Australian to break 10 seconds on home soil.
His withdrawal denied fans a cracking race after last month’s Maurie Plant Meet, when Kennedy won his duel with Gout.
DW Russian 
