Gout Gout claimed another slice of sprinting history in a meteoric run in Brisbane on Sunday by becoming the first Australian to run a 200m in less than 20 seconds.
At the Queensland athletics championships, a 17-year-old wunderkind achieved a time of 19.98 seconds with an unlawful tailwind of +3.6 meters per second, making the result non-official. However, no other athlete from Australia has managed to complete a 200-meter race under 20 seconds in ideal conditions.
In the under-20 final of the 200m, he dominated the competition, crossing the finish line 2.12 seconds before the runner-up.
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The regulations state that for the 100m dash, 200m dash, 100m hurdles (for women), 110m hurdles (for men), long jump, triple jump, along with pertinent competitions in heptathlon and decathlon, the result will be considered unofficial if the wind speed exceeds two meters per second according to the anemometer reading.
But the wind rule did little to quell the exhilaration surrounding Gout's busting of the 20-second barrier. Wind-assisted or not, a sub-20-second 200m is significant, especially for 17-year-olds and especially for Australian athletics.
Gout became only the seventh Under-20 athlete in global history to break the record.
Overjoyed, the Ipswich native lifted his arms skyward, pounded his chest, and let out a roar before a crowd that was ecstatic. He later celebrated with an affectionate and joyful hug for his coach, Diane Sheppard.
On Sunday morning, Gout zipped through his 200m heat with a time of 20.05, finishing over two seconds faster than the runner-up.
This run has crowned Gout as the quickest globally for the 200 meters this year, surpassing the time of 20.13 set by Zimbabwe’s prodigy Makanakaishe Charamba in Texas just last month.
Thanks to a favorable wind speed of +1.2 meters per second during his race, Gout surpassed the previous Australian open record for the 200m event, which stood at 20.06 seconds since Peter Norman achieved it at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.
He narrowly missed out on setting a new national record — his time was 20.04, which he achieved in Brisbane back in December.
That 20.04, set when he was just 16 years old, surpassed Usain Bolt's quickest time recorded at the same age.
The Jamaican who has won eight Olympic gold medals achieved a personal best of 20.13 when he was 16 years old, and his quickest time at age 17 was 19.93.
Gout provided a varied evaluation of his performance in Sunday's finale.
He mentioned that his beginning was quite shaky, and frankly, after that, he didn’t really feel motivated to run.
It felt really great. As I exited the curve, I just maintained my acceleration. I could sense the wind at my back, so I thought, 'I'll make use of it'.
And then I glanced at the clock, and once it was rounded down to under 20 seconds, I simply couldn't have been more delighted.
Upon seeing the time, I felt genuine happiness and surprise, yet it also seemed as though a burden had been lifted from me.
Since I’ve completed this task, I now need to maintain consistency in my efforts.
He acknowledged the enthusiastic audience with a nod and spoke about the legendary Jamaican runner Bolt, who he is often likened to.
"Gout expressed that it was an amazing feeling, recalling his own experience of seeing Usain Bolt on TV and getting chills," when discussing the audience's encouragement.
Causing people to get goosebumps certainly feels amazing, and I hope to keep providing that experience because, absolutely, I want to give them even more.
My heart felt empty as there wasn’t a crowd around. But once I finished warming up and stepped out for the finals, I glanced back and saw an enormous audience. Definitely made me sprint quicker.
Adding to the impressiveness of Making Gout’s two performances on Sunday was the fact that he had undergone merely a “slight” taper, according to his manager James Templeton who spoke with Wide World of Sports.
Templeton was alongside the track, observing his protege soar.
He exclaimed it was fantastic.
"There was a lot of hype around the Queensland championships of course. It's fair to say he was the centre of attention today, but that's no big deal for him.
He came out here with the aim of running quickly and performed exceptionally well today.
People supporting Gout think it’s only a question of time before he breaks through the 10-second mark in the 100 meters and hits below 20 seconds for the 200 meters under standard regulations.
The Gout team is also gunning for the sprint double—gold medals in both the 100m and 200m—at the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, when the Adidas-backed phenomenon will turn 24.
The Wide World of Sports disclosed earlier this month that The eagerly awaited return of Gout to the Stawell Gift next month will be financed by the principal owner. In 2015, the racehorse that claimed victory in the Melbourne Cup was Prince of Penzance.
WWOS also disclosed that another four prominent Australian sprinters—Lachlan Kennedy, Josh Azzopardi, Jack Hale, and Jacob Despard—are scheduled to compete in the well-known 120-meter dash at Stawell over the Easter long weekend, with a prize of $40,000 up for grabs.