Teen freak Gout Gout has stunned the world by winning the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships 200m final with a record time faster than a young Usain Bolt.
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Gout left the Queensland meet speechless with his remarkable 20.04sec run – making him the fastest 16-year-old in the world, and the second fastest in global history for an athlete under the age of 18.
The result ensured the world watched Aussie Peter Norman’s 56-year 200m record – which was set claiming silver at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico – fall.
“He is Gout of this world,” commentator Mitch Dyer said.
“That is not human! That is ridiculous!
“The 16-year-old from Ipswich has marched into QSAC and stolen the eyes of the world.
“This kid is just every bit the showman.
“That is mind boggling!
“Every second of hype this kid gets is warranted.
“He steps into the pantheon of greats of 200-metre running.”
Described as a “poster boy” for the future of Australian athletics, Gout danced his way out onto the track on Saturday afternoon for the men’s under 18 200m final.
And after shrugging off a technical false start, Gout jumped easily from lane 7 to hit the lead at the bend.
The teen then streaked home to claim his insane record with the fastest 200m ever run by a 16-year-old.
“I’ve been chasing that record … I didn’t think it would come this year!” Gout said post-race.
“As soon as the gun went, I was flying.
“It’s pretty crazy.
“Right now, I can’t really process it.”
Gout’s incredible 20.04 time surpasses the 20.13sec set by athletics great Usain Bolt when he ran at his under 18s meet in Barbados in 2003.
The time is second in the world to only American Erriyon Knighton’s 19.84sec.
The result is also the sixth fastest in the world by an athlete under the age of 20 – and Gout set it as a 16-year-old.
Gout celebrated his win with a selfie with his coach after taking a bow for the crowd.
The teen was clearly overcome by his result post-race as he dropped down on one knee and signalled to the sky, before telling reporters to “remember it”.
Earlier in the meet, Gout demonstrated his sprinting prowess once again by cruising through his under-18 200m heat.
The 16-year-old, coming off a brilliant effort in the 100m final on Friday, eased up well before the finish line and still clocked a super quick 20.38 seconds in his heat.
Gout has been breaking records for fun on the track, setting national age group records over 100m and 200m in recent years and climbing to fourth on the all-time Australian ranks just last month when he clocked 20.29 over 200m.
It all comes after the Australian sprinting prodigy wrote his name further into the record books in a stunning opening day of the championships.
Gout kicked off the day running the fourth fastest under-18s 100m time in history in a blistering 10.04 seconds.
It was also the fifth fastest time by an Australian in history in any conditions.
The result won’t go into the record books after he ran with an illegal tailwind of 3.4m/s.
For the record to count, the tailwind can be no more than 2m/s.
Gout, who came into the race with a PB of 10.29 — just 0.02 behind the Oceania under-18s record held by current Australian champion Sebastian Sultana — showed once again he is the real deal.
The incredible time at such a young age shows just how much of a handful he’ll be for the sprinting world for years to come.
“10.04, how do you do Gout Gout. That is absolutely unbelievable,” Mitch Dyer said, calling the race. “Ladies and gentlemen, that is history.”
But just to make sure his name would go down in history, Gout ran a second incredible time of the day in the final to take Australian and Oceania records in 10.17 with a 0.9m/s tailwind. The time is officially equal 17th fastest in history in the Oceania region, and sixth fastest of all-time by an under-18 in the world.
Gout’s unofficial time has only been bettered by Patrick Johnson (9.88, 3.6m/s wind), Rohan Browning (9.96, 3.3m/s), Tim Jackson (10.00, 4.3m/s) and Matt Shirvington (10.03, -0.1m/s). The official fastest Oceania times are Johnson’s 9.93 (1.8m/s) in 2003, followed by Browning’s 10.01 (0.8m/s) and Shirvington’s 10.03.
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