by Gout Gout’s star continues to rise after the exciting young sprint prospect ran the fastest 200m by an Australian since 1993 at the Queensland All Schools Athletics Championships.
The 16-year-old’s time of 20.29 seconds in a heat at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Center made him the fourth-fastest Australian over 200m of all time and the world’s fourth-fastest athlete under 18 years over this distance.
He won’t be 17 until the end of December.
Usain Bolt, whose world record of 19.19 seconds set at the 2009 World Championships still stands, ran 20.13 when he was the same age as Gout. Australia’s fastest over this distance, Peter Norman, clocked 20.06 at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico.
Gout was unable to better his mark in the final in Brisbane, riding slightly slower with a time of 20.52 seconds, but it was still enough for him to take the title and a championship record.
It is the latest in a series of eye-catching runs from the youngster, who won a silver medal at the U20 World Athletics Championships with a time of 20.60 seconds earlier this year.
Bolt’s gold medal time in the 200m final at the corresponding event in 2002, when the Olympic great was just short of his 16th birthday, was 20.61.
Gout, one of seven children of parents Monica and Bona, was born in Brisbane after his parents emigrated from South Sudan to Australia. The Queenslander had made headlines around the world before this latest feat, with images of his blistering pace and eye-catching stride during home competitions going viral on social media.
