The teenage sprint sensation betters Peter Norman’s longstanding mark with another outstanding run in Brisbane
If you hadn’t heard of Gout Gout, then you probably have now.
The prodigiously talented 16-year-old went into the Australian All Schools Championships as the national under-20 record-holder for the 200m, having clocked 20.29 in Queensland last month.
Gout Gout Sets Oceania Record with Stunning 200m Performance
That run was the quickest by an Australian since 1993 and, off the back of it, many wondered if Gout Gout could one day take down Peter Norman’s senior mark of 20.06.
Not only was it a time that secured Norman the 200m silver medal in those Games but no Australian had ever got within a tenth of a second of it.
However, in the hot Brisbane sunshine, Gout Gout clocked a staggering 20.04 (1.5) to win the 200m, setting a senior Oceania record over half a lap.
Gout Gout (Getty)
“These are adult times and me, just a kid – I’m running them,” the teenager said. “It’s going to be a great future for sure. I didn’t expect it to be that fast but I guess I ran Australia’s fastest ever time in the 200m. I have been chasing that record but I didn’t think it would come this year. I thought maybe next year or the year after that.”
Gout’s 20.04 now puts him second on the global under-18 200m all-time list behind Erriyon Knighton, who ran 19.84 at the USATF Championships three years ago.
It also means that Gout Gout is faster than Usain Bolt over 200m in the under-18 age category, with the Jamaican clocking 20.13 in 2003.
After his victory, Gout Gout celebrated with both coach Di Sheppard and manager James Templeton, scarcely believing the feat he’d accomplished.
Templeton, Gout Gout and Sheppard (Getty)
Gout Gout Shines in Sprints and Prepares for Training with Lyles in FloridaGout Gout also had success in the 100m at the championships and set an Australian under-18 record of 10.17 (0.9) in his win.
In the heats, the teenager gained global attention after clocking 10.04 (3.4) but the wind was well above the legal limit.
It marks the end of a sensational season for Gout Gout, who claimed a superb silver medal over half a lap at the World Under-20 Championships in Lima, placing behind South Africa’s Bayanda Walaza.
According to The Guardian, Gout Gout and Sheppard, through their mutual sponsor Adidas, have also secured an invite to join Noah Lyles and his coach Lance Brauman in Florida for a few weeks in January.
Gout Gout is a kid, yet he just ran speedier than any Australian man ever north of 200 meters. Better than that – he has run faster than the speediest man on the planet ran when he was a similar age.
He doesn’t turn 17 for a couple of additional weeks and has year 12 one year from now, yet on Saturday he broke the longest-standing record in Australian sports – Peter Norman’s celebrated 200-meter record from the 1968 Mexico Olympics.
The Queensland youngster additionally ran speedier than Usain Bolt, the best runner ever, ran at a similar age. Gout’s 20.04 seconds to win the 200m at the Australian all schools games titles was speedier than Bolt’s quickest time as a 16-year-old – 20.13s. Bolt ran 19.93 the following year as a 17-year-old.
Gout Gout was at that point in tenuous air as a gifted high school ability, yet presently he’s performing at a level where age is just pertinent for squeezing yourself to recall that he is beating grown-up times.
“It’s most certainly perfect. I’ve been pursuing that record, however I didn’t figure it would come for this present year. I thought it’d come perhaps one year from now, [or] the year after that,” he said after his run.
Norman’s was perhaps of the most persevering through record, yet in addition quite possibly of the most popular second in Australian game. He ran 20.06s when he won silver at elevation at the Mexico Games and was then on the dais with Tommie Smith and John Carlos for the basic freedoms salute. Norman, who passed on in 2006, knew about the arranged salute and wore an identification on his tracksuit on the side of it.
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