16-year-old Australian sprinter Gout Gout ran his way into history over the weekend, breaking the Australian record for the 200m set by Peter Norman at the 1968 Olympics.
What happened?
At the All School Championships over the weekend Gout produced several impressive performances. The most notable was his time of 20.04 in the 200m. The run elevated him past Usain Bolt (20.13) as the fastest 16-year-old over the distance in history. It was also the second-fastest under-18 200m ever recorded. Gout surpassed the Australian record of 20.04 set by Peter Norman when he won a silver medal at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. The record had been Australia’s longest-standing athletics record at 56 years.
In the 100m on Friday, Gout ran 10.04. It is the fifth fastest 100m run by an Australian in any conditions. However, because of a 3.4 metre per second tailwind, the time will not be counted as an official record. In the final later in the weekend, Gout ran 10.17 to set the Australian u18 record.
Future
Gout is a student at Ipswich Grammar School in Brisbane and still has Year 12 to complete next year. He is coached by Diane Sheppard, who has coached at the school since 2003.
After winning silver in the 200m at the u20 World Championships earlier this year, Gout signed a sponsorship deal with Adidas in October. He is headed to the U.S. in January with Sheppard to join Olympic champion Noah Lyles on a training camp.
Former Australian sprint star John Steffensen has warned of the dangers of making the leap from junior competition to senior ranks too soon. He told CODE Sports: “What I would like to see with him is he gets wrapped up in cotton wool and doesn’t get exposed to senior running any time soon, I’m not knocking the kid because he is a beast but people forget that Usain had a tough few years post world juniors.”
Guot Guot
Gout’s father Bona told Channel 7 on the weekend that his name is actually Guot Guot (pronounced Gwot). The name was misspelled by immigration officials when his parents fled to Egypt before they settled in Brisbane.
He said: “His name is Guot… I don’t want my son to be called a disease name… it’s something that’s not acceptable.”
What they said:
Usain Bolt said on social media: “He looks like young me”.
Gout said: “I’ve been chasing that record, but I didn’t think it would come this year. I thought it’d come maybe next year”.
