Australian Teen Sensation Gout Gout Blazes to World-Leading 200m Time

Gout Gout

At just 17 years old, Australian sprinting prodigy Gout Gout is already rewriting the record books and cementing his status as one of the most electrifying talents in track and field.

On Sunday, at the Queensland State Championships in Brisbane, Gout delivered a performance that left the athletics world in awe, clocking the fastest 200-meter time globally this year.

In the heats, Gout stormed to a world-leading time of 20.05 seconds, a mere 0.01 seconds shy of his own Australian record. But he wasn’t done yet. In the final, the Ipswich High School student made history by becoming the first Australian to break the elusive 20-second barrier, crossing the line in a blistering 19.98 seconds.

While the time won’t be recognized as an official record due to illegal wind conditions (+3.6m/s), the achievement is no less remarkable.

Gout’s dominance was on full display as he left his competitors in the dust, finishing more than two seconds ahead of the field in the men’s under-20 200m final. His explosive speed on the home straight was a sight to behold, further solidifying his reputation as a generational talent.

“I felt literally free,” Gout said after the race, according to *Australian Athletics*. “I had 80 meters left to go, and I thought, ‘Let’s send it.’ Only then did I believe I had a chance of going sub-20. Seeing the clock, I was really happy and surprised in a way, but it just felt like a weight off my shoulders. Now that I’ve done it, I’ve just got to do that more consistently.”

This isn’t the first time Gout has made headlines. In December, at just 16 years old, he shattered Peter Norman’s long-standing Australian 200m record of 20.06 seconds, a mark that had stood since 1968. The day before that record-breaking run, he clocked a wind-assisted 10.04 seconds in the 100m, the fourth-fastest time in history for an under-18 athlete.

Though Sunday’s sub-20-second 200m won’t enter the record books due to the wind, Gout joins an elite group of athletes. He is now only the seventh sprinter under the age of 20 to achieve the feat under any wind conditions. Comparisons to sprinting legend Usain Bolt are inevitable, with Bolt himself once remarking that Gout “looks like young me.”

Gout’s meteoric rise shows no signs of slowing down. On Saturday, he claimed the under-20 100m title at the Queensland State Championships with a commanding time of 10.38 seconds, nearly half a second faster than his closest rival. His next appearance will be at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne on March 29, where he’ll look to continue his remarkable streak.

As the athletics world watches in anticipation, one thing is clear: Gout Gout is not just a rising star—he’s a phenomenon in the making, poised to leave an indelible mark on the sport. With his combination of raw speed, poise, and ambition, the future of sprinting may very well belong to this Australian teen.