Official announcements from Athletics Australia or World Athletics

16-Year-Old Gout Gout Breaks 56-Year Australian 200m Record with Wind-Assisted 20.04s

Dec 7, 2024, 08:16 AM

Australian teenage sprinter Gout Gout has made headlines at the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships with remarkable performances in both the 100m and 200m events. In the U18 100m heat, the 16-year-old clocked a wind-assisted time of 10.04 seconds (+3.4 m/s), the fourth-fastest time in all conditions by an Australian athlete. Although the time will not stand as an official record due to the excessive wind assistance, it has drawn significant attention to Gout's extraordinary talent. In the 100m final, Gout recorded a time of 10.17 seconds. He then delivered an even more impressive performance in the 200m, running 20.04 seconds with a tailwind of +2.5 m/s, which is above the legal limit for record purposes. Despite the wind assistance, his time surpassed the Australian and Oceania records previously held by Peter Norman since the 1968 Olympics—a record that had stood for 56 years. Gout's 200m time also makes him the fastest 16-year-old in history over the distance, surpassing Usain Bolt's 20.13 seconds at the same age, and places him second on the U18 all-time list.