Gout Gout set a new Australian record for the 200m on his senior international debut, but the 17-year-old still has a way to go to match Usain Bolt’s feat and smash through the sub-20 barrier
Teenage sprinting prodigy Gout Gout has smashed the Australian 200m record during his senior international debut at the Golden Spike event in Czechia. The 17-year-old clocked a blistering 20.02, edging closer to breaking the sub-20 mark before his 18th birthday, much like Usain Bolt.
Gout’s first senior European outing in Ostrava on Tuesday was eagerly awaited. The young speedster had already shattered Peter Norman’s long-standing Australian national 200m record with a time of 20.04 in December 2024 when he was just 16.
Amongst Europe’s elite sprinters, he bettered his own personal best. The Queensland-born superstar clinched the men’s 200m race in a time of 20.02, finishing two-tenths ahead of Cuba’s Reynier Mena, who bagged the last two Diamond League 200m titles.
Since breaking Norman’s record last December, Gout has been causing quite a stir. He broke through the 20-second barrier in April with an impressive 19.84, securing the Australian 200m title. However, this run was aided by a wind speed of +2.2 metres per second, so it doesn’t count as an official record, reports the Express.
Gout’s performances were again thwarted by excessive wind during the Australian Under-20 Athletics Championships in Perth. He clocked two sub-10 second 100m times, but they didn’t make the record books.
Nevertheless, Gout has now set a new official personal best in his favoured 200m at the Golden Spike event and was pleased with his performance.
“I feel good. New personal best, new national record in my first European race,” Gout declared. “I don’t feel any pressure. Because as soon as I step out on that track, it’s just me by myself and what I’ve got to do – my favourite thing, and that’s to run.”
Gout’s aspirations include tearing down the sub-20-second barrier in the 200m, and he’s confident that with increased competition exposure, that milestone is well within his grasp.
“I just go out there and run and nothing stops me from doing that,” he asserted confidently. “[I need to] get some more races in me and [the 20-second barrier] will drop for sure.”
At just 17 years old, Gout’s raw talent has drawn parallels to none other than Bolt, who blazed through his teenage years before shattering records on the Olympic stage.
Bolt clocked a staggering 19.93 seconds in Bermuda back in 2004, mere months before his 18th birthday, setting a new World Junior 200m record.
With his own 18th birthday on December 29, Gout has time on his side to either equal or surpass Bolt’s mark. Yet, amidst all the buzz, he’s keen to remind everyone that his journey is his own, and he’s looking to set his unique mark in the annals of athletics history.
“Although I do run like Usain Bolt and I do maybe look like him, I’m just trying to be myself and trying to be the next Gout,” he revealed to Channel 7 in March.
“I want to go to the big events. I want to go to the Olympics. I want to go to the ’28 Olympics in LA. I want to go to the [2032] Brisbane Olympics. And I just want to show the world that I’m Gout and how I’m here to stay.”