Teen Aussie sprinter Gout Gout goes viral – again – after dominant world champs run

He’s only 16 and is already one of Australia’s highest profile runners, by virtue of social media virality.

And Queensland sprinter Gout Gout is going global – yet again – after a dominant run at the World Athletics under-20s championships in Lima, Peru overnight.

Gout cruised to victory in his heat in the 200m at the meeting, where the world’s best and brightest young talent are competing. It’s not just future Olympians, either, with Paris Olympians Torrie Lewis, Claudia Hollingsworth and Peyton Craig all competing in Lima for Australia.

But Gout is the name with all the attention after another eye-catching run. He won his heat by a huge distance and stopped the clock at 20.77s, but Gout also slowed down for the last 20 to 30 metres.

He later progressed to the final on Saturday morning (AEST) with another measured run of 21.07s but can threaten his own Australian under-18 record of 20.69, and the Australian under-20 record of 20.41s will also be in play.

Gout Gout celebrates after winning the under-18 men’s 200m final in 2023.Credit: Casey Sims

The eye-catching nature of Gout’s deeds have made him a viral sensation in recent months. Leading into the under-20s meeting, Gout’s dominant victories in Australian races – and a PB of 10.29 seconds in the 100m – were picked up by viral accounts on X and Facebook, and spun around the globe. They attracted millions of views.

Gout, whose parents migrated to Australia from South Sudan two years before he was born, has been emerging as a future Australian athletics star for several years and – if he continues on the same trajectory – could become the home town hero of the Brisbane Olympics in 2032.

The lanky teenager holds the Australian under-16 records for the 100m (10.57s) and 200m (21.41s) and this year lowered his 100m time to 10.29s – which was the same time as Rohan Browning’s – and 200m to 20.69s, which gave him the Australian under-18 record.

The Australian record for the 200m is still held by Peter Norman (20.06s) at the 1968 Mexico Olympics.

Gout did not run in the 100m in Lima, but instead focused on the 200m.

With a similar long stride, Gout has been compared to Usain Bolt - but he has some way to go to match the times of Bolt, who ran 20.13s at a 16-year-old and broke 20 seconds as a 17-year-old.

Asked about the comparisons this year, Gout said: “It’s pretty cool because Usain Bolt is arguably the greatest athlete of all time and just being compared to him is a great feeling. Obviously I’m Gout Gout so I’m trying make a name for myself. If I can get to the level he was that would be a great achievement.”

Australia could potentially claim the double in Lima in the 200m, with Lewis also qualified fastest for the women’s 200m final, with a run of 23.14 in the semi-finals.

Lewis, who holds the national record for the 100m, is also focusing on the 200m.

Craig, who was Australia’s best male middle-distance performer at the Paris Olympics, won his semi-final in the 800m with a time of 1:47.31 and will be a chance to claim gold in the final.

Hollingsworth also qualified strongly for the women’s 800m final.

Wollongong athlete Delta Amidzovski won gold in the women’s long jump on Thursday, and is a chance to double up in the hurdles.

Australia won a gold in the mixed 4 x 400m relay on Wednesday, through Jordan Gilbert, Bella Pasquali, Jack Deguara and Sophia Gregorevic.

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