At the Queensland State Championships, Australian sprinting sensation Gout Gout, who is 17 years old, continues to make headlines. Gout set a world record for this year's fastest 200-meter time on Sunday, clocking 20.05 seconds in the heats, just 0.01 seconds behind his own Australian record. With a time of 19.98 seconds, Gout became the first Australian to break the 20-second barrier in a historic final. Sadly, the record will not stand because the wind is too strong (+3.6 m/s).
Despite this, Gout's performance in the men's under-20 200m final was nothing short of remarkable; he finished more than two seconds ahead of his competitors. In December, at the age of 16, Gout broke Peter Norman's Australian 200-meter record of 20.06 seconds, which had stood since 1968. The day before, he ran a wind-assisted personal best of 10.04 seconds in the 100m, marking the fourth-fastest time in history for an under-18 athlete.
Gout joins a select group of only seven athletes under the age of 20 who have run a sub-20-second 200m in all wind conditions. His time in Sunday's final will not be officially recorded. This further cements his potential to become one of track and field's all-time greats. Legendary sprinter Usain Bolt, who ran similar times at Gout's age, has even remarked that Gout "looks like young me."
Gout also claimed the under-20 100m title at the Queensland State Championships on Saturday with a time of 10.38 seconds, nearly half a second faster than the rest of the field. He is set to compete next at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne on March 29.