Teen Sprint Sensation Gout Gout Stuns Again With Blazing 200m Run

With every race, 17-year-old Australian sprint prodigy Gout Gout continues to smash expectations and prove his sky-high potential.

On Sunday, the teenage track star blazed through the men’s 200 meters at the Australian Athletics Championships in Perth, clocking a jaw-dropping 19.84 seconds. While the time won't enter the record books due to a slightly illegal tailwind of 2.2 meters per second (just over the allowable 2.0), the performance still sent shockwaves through the athletics world.

The wind-assisted time was the second-fastest 200m ever run by an under-20 athlete under any conditions—quicker than what Olympic legends like Usain Bolt, Justin Gatlin, and current sprint star Letsile Tebogo managed at the same age.

Had the wind reading been legal, Gout’s performance would have shattered the championship record—his own, set during the heats—by 0.37 seconds.

This sizzling 200m run capped off an already sensational week for Gout, who had broken the 10-second barrier in the 100m twice in a single day during the men’s under-20 national title race on Thursday. Those times, too, were aided by wind beyond the legal limit—but they nonetheless showcased the explosive raw speed he's developing.

“It feels pretty good,” Gout said after his 200m triumph, according to Reuters. “That’s what I’ve been chasing—getting that sub-10. I focused on my first 100, I got out, I sent it. Top speed is my gift. I used it, took off, and I got sub-20, so I couldn’t be happier.”

He added, “I think I might be one of the youngest ever to win a men’s national title, so it definitely feels great. Couldn’t be happier, for sure.”

In Saturday’s 200m final, Gout’s effortless, elastic strides seemed to stretch twice as far as his competitors' as he stormed around the bend and left the field in the dust. His closest rival, Lachlan Kennedy—widely expected to challenge him—was disqualified for a false start, leaving Gout uncatchable.

With performances like these, Gout Gout is not just a name to remember—he’s a future global sprinting force in the making.