By Michael Gleeson
Brisbane: Gout Gout is a boy, but he just ran quicker than any Australian man ever over 200 metres. Better than that – he has run quicker than the quickest man in the world ran when he was the same age.
Believe the hype. Gout is the real deal.
He doesn’t turn 17 for a few more weeks and has year 12 next year, but on Saturday he broke the longest-standing record in Australian athletics – Peter Norman’s storied 200-metre record from the 1968 Mexico Olympics.
The Queensland teenager also ran quicker than Usain Bolt, the greatest sprinter ever, ran at the same age. Gout’s 20.04 seconds to win the 200m at the Australian all schools athletics championships was quicker than Bolt’s fastest time as a 16-year-old – 20.13s. Bolt ran 19.93 the next year as a 17-year-old.
Gout was already in rarefied air as a precocious teenage talent, but now he’s performing at a level where age is only relevant for pinching yourself to remember he is beating adult times.
“It’s definitely great. I’ve been chasing that record, but I didn’t think it would come this year. I thought it’d come maybe next year, [or] the year after that,” he said after his run.
Peter Norman (top image) ran an Australian record in the race where Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos made their human rights salute on the dais at the 1968 Mexico Olympics.Credit: Jamie Brown
Norman’s was not only one of the most enduring records, but also one of the most famous moments in Australian sport. He ran 20.06s when he won silver at altitude at the Mexico Games and was then on the dais with Tommie Smith and John Carlos for the human rights salute. Norman, who died in 2006, knew of the planned salute and wore a badge on his tracksuit in support of it.
Now Gout is chasing sub-20 seconds – and sub-10 seconds for the 100m – and this last two days has forced him to accelerate the timeframe he had set himself for when he might be able to do that.
Gout is also trying to overtake American Erriyon Knighton’s record for the fastest under-18 time in history. Knighton ran 19.84s in 2021.
“I mean, honestly, we just take little steps ... chasing that big sub [20 and 10 seconds],” he said.
Gout after his remarkable run in the 200-metre final.Credit: Getty Images
“I came off the bend after that rocky start, after a false start, and as soon as the gun went, I was flying, and just came home.
“It’s pretty crazy. Right now I can’t process it, but I guess tonight, when I go to bed, I’ll think about it.
“These are adults. And me, I’m just a kid, and I’m running them [down].”
Naturally, there is a danger of over-hyping a teenager and loading unfair pressure on him. But these are performances that cannot be ignored. A time of 20.04s would have placed sixth in the final at the Paris Olympics for the 200m.
Bolt’s world record for the 200m is 19.19 seconds, set back in 2009.
Gout, like Bolt, is better over 200 metres than 100. His starts are slow, and his stride length is long, so once he comes off the bend, he slingshots into the straight and is still accelerating when others are tiring. Bolt didn’t even seriously race the 100m until he was 21.
Gout embraces the pressure. He is not concerned by making predictions about breaking times and winning medals, and thus far has responded each time. Earlier this year he was second at the world juniors in the 200m he ran quicker than Bolt’s championship record for a 16-year-old, and was only beaten by an athlete nearly two years older than him.
“I’ve been getting pressure. My video went viral right before world juniors and that already gave a lot of pressure for me. But for me, you know, they say pressure makes diamonds. I guess I’m better than a diamond right now,” he said.
‘You know, they say pressure makes diamonds. I guess I’m better than a diamond right now.’
Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout
“I’ve always done what I said I would. So if I said something, it’s on my mind, and I’m pursuing it until I get it.”
He and his coach, Di Sheppard, are unabashed in stating their belief in what Gout will – not might, not can – do.
In his first expansive interview this week with this masthead, Gout declared – along with Sheppard – that he would win gold in the 100m and 200m at the Brisbane Olympics in 2032. He will be 24 at the time.
Of course, if you are going to be in the frame to do that, then breaking 10 seconds is essential. That significant milestone has only been bettered by one Australian, Patrick Johnson, who ran 9.93s in Japan in 2003.
Gout celebrates his new Australian benchmark with manager James Templeton (left) and coach Di Sheppard.Credit: Getty Images
Indeed, it was this belief in what Gout was capable of at the Brisbane Olympics that was the selling point from Sheppard, the Ipswich Grammar athletics coach, the first time she saw him run at the school when he was in year 7.
“Brisbane 2032 Olympics – it’s ours. The double [the 100 and 200-metre gold medals],” she told Gout. He was surprised, but agreed.
The comparisons with Bolt were there before Saturday. They coincidentally have a similar long stride style, which even Gout sees.
“I’m just me trying to be me, trying to be Gout Gout. Obviously, I do run like him. I do sometimes look like him, but obviously, I’m making a name for myself, and I think I’ve done that pretty well,” he said. “I just want to continue doing that and continue to be not only Usain Bolt, but continue to be Gout Gout.”
There was something almost unkind about watching Gout run against schoolboys on Saturday. Yes, they are his contemporaries, but they are peers in age only. His was a peerless performance.
While Gout was the dominant figure of the schools championships, another national record was broken when 15-year-old South Australian Ken Ferrante Tanikawa ran 12.59s for the boys’ under-16 110m hurdles to break Sasha Zhoya’s record.
Zhoya was a dual Australian-French citizen who moved to live in France in 2020 and won gold at world juniors.
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