Our fastest future Olympian

Remember the name. Schoolboy Gout Gout, 16, from Springfield, west of Brisbane, is on track to be one of our great sporting legends. He stunned the athletics world at the weekend, winning the Australian All Schools Athletics Championships 200m final in a record 20.4 seconds, faster than a young Usain Bolt, the retired Jamaican sprinter and the fastest man in history, so far.

Gout runs with a similar long stride and tall back to Bolt, who won eight Olympic gold medals.

Gout is now the fastest 16-year-old in the world, and he is closing in on the magical 10-second barrier for 100m. “Sub-10 will definitely happen, yeah,” he said casually. Coach Di Sheppard, who discovered him at Ipswich Grammar School, regards it as a “given”. Gout came close last week, clocking 10.04sec, the fourth-fastest under-18s 100m in history, but it won’t go in the books as the 3.4m/s tailwind was too strong.

Gout was born in Australia after his family moved from South Sudan via Egypt in 2006, and he credits his parents with his work ethic. His father, who studied law in his homeland, has often worked three jobs to support the family, and his mother is a cleaner. They have seven children and Gout shares a room with his brother. The siblings “really want to make them (their parents) proud”, he says. But he doesn’t “want to be cocky or be something crazy”. His goal is to win Olympic gold for Australia. He will be 24 at the Brisbane Games in 2032, when he should be at the peak of his powers.