Gout Gout in action in Brisbane (© Getty Images)
Australia’s world U20 silver medallist Gout Gout powered to 20.04 clocking over 200m at the Australian All Schools Championships in Brisbane on Saturday (7).
Not only did he break Peter Norman’s Oceanian record (20.06) that had stood since 1968, he also bettered Usain Bolt’s world age-16 best (20.13), set back in 2003.
One day prior, Gout had won the 100m title in a PB of 10.17 (0.9m/s), having clocked a wind-assisted 10.04 (3.4m/s) in the heats.
“These are adult times, and me – just a kid – I’m running them. It’s going to be a great future for sure,” said Gout after breaking the longest-standing Australian record on the books.
“I have always done what I said I will do,” added Gout, whose PBs before this week stood at 10.29 and 20.29. “If I said something, it’s on my mind and I am pursuing it until I do it.”
He now sits second on the world U18 all-time list behind Erriyon Knighton’s 19.84. Gout turns 17 at the end of this month, so 2024 will be his final season as an U18 athlete. But he still has two more full years left in the U20 ranks.
Elsewhere in Brisbane, Amaya Mearns won the U17 girls’ 200m in 23.15, while Mason McGroder took the U17 boys’ long jump title with a wind-assisted 7.86m.
