Aussie teen sprinting sensation Gout Gout breaks national 200m record that stood more than half a century

Australian sprinting prodigy Gout Gout added one other feather to his cap breaking the legendary Peter Norman’s senior nationwide 200m document on the All-Faculties Championships in Brisbane on Saturday (7 December).

The 16-year-old Gout grew to become the second quickest under-18 sprinter over the half-lap dash within the course of clocking a senior Australian and Oceania document of 20.04 seconds. He chopped 0.02s off the document Norman set to win the silver medal on the 1968 Mexico Metropolis Olympic Video games.

Gout moved into second place behind US athlete Erriyon Knighton on the under-18 all-time record. Knighton set a blistering world document of 19.84s as a 17-year-old in 2021.

The day earlier than his beautiful half-lap run, Gout posted a wind-aided 10.04s earlier than dropping a authorized 10.17s which is the sixth-fastest time by an under-18 athlete and an Australian age-group document.

“These are grownup occasions and me, only a child – I’m working them,” Gout informed The Guardian. “It’s going to be an incredible future for certain. I didn’t anticipate it to be that quick, however I suppose I ran Australia’s fastest-ever time within the 200. I’ve been chasing that document, however I didn’t assume it could come this 12 months. I believed perhaps subsequent 12 months or the 12 months after that.”

Gout, who was born in 2007 to South Sudanese dad and mom, gained the 200m silver behind South Africa’s Bayanda Walaza on the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships.