At the All-Schools Athletics Championships in Queensland, teenage sprinting athlete Gout Gout set a new record of 10.04 seconds, the fourth-fastest under-18 100-metre pace in history.
It was also the fourth-fastest run ever by an Australian sprinter of any age. It came in the heats but was wind-assisted and, therefore, does not count in official records.
Gout surpassed Sebastian Sultana’s previous Australian under-18 record of 10.27 and his own personal best of 10.29 with a legal final time of 10.17, the sixth-fastest legal under-18 time, later on Friday after the tailwind had subsided.
With this, the athlete declared: “I’ve been chasing this national record for a while now! In the heat, I thought I got it, but it was a crazy tailwind, so I just did the same thing and got the job done.”
US sprinter Erriyon Knighton set the record for the quickest under-18 time in 2021 with a wind-assisted time of 9.99 seconds. His compatriot Jelani Watkins and Thai sprinter Puripol Boonson occupy second and third place, having each run 10.02 in 2021 and 2023, respectively.
Gout’s athletic performance
Gout first gained popularity in 2022 when, at the age of 14, he raced the 100 metres in 10.57 seconds. The Australian has been compared to sprinting legend Usain Bolt during the past two years.
Moreover, he achieved even more attention at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships in August as he set a new record of 20.60 seconds in the 200m, which was 0.01 seconds quicker than the previous mark set by a 15-year-old Bolt in 2002.
Gout will now compete in the 200-metre race in Queensland on Saturday.
“In January, I’m going overseas to train with Noah Lyles and his coach Lance Brauman. Hopefully, we can qualify for the Tokyo World Championships… If not, I’ll just finish my school in Year 12,” the athlete declared.
Source: CNN