Teen sprint sensation Gout Gout nominated for The Australian’s Australian of the Year award
Teen sprint sensation Gout Gout has been nominated for The Australian’s Australian of the Year for his record-breaking athletic performance in 2024.
Teen sprint star Gout Gout shattered records and stepped out on to the international athletics stage in December last year, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.
The year 11 student from Springfield, west of Brisbane, is on track to becoming one of Australia’s sporting legends, having already claimed the title of fastest 16-year-old in the world.
Gout became an internationally recognised name in December 2024 when he competed at the Australian All Schools Championships in Brisbane and out-paced even the greats.
He beat Peter Norman’s 56-year-old 200m record – the longest-held senior record in Australian athletics history – with an extraordinary 20.04sec.
Gout also ran a mind-blowing 10.04sec in the heats of the 100m, but an illegal wind reading of +3.4m/s (+2.5m/s is the legal limit) meant the record didn’t officially go in the books.
His legal 100m time was 10.17sec, a personal best and U/18 record, which was previously 10.27sec.
Gout’s performances and determination to be one of the greats have earned him a nomination for The Australian’s Australian of the Year award, which has been honouring the nation’s most extraordinary and inspiring citizens since 1971.
Gout was born in Australia in 2007 after his family moved from South Sudan via Egypt the year before. His father, Bona, said the young sprinter’s name is actually pronounced “Gwot,” but a translation of the family name from Arabic in Egypt resulted in it being spelled “Gout” instead of “Guot”.
The rising star credits his parents with his work ethic. He says his mother and father – who studied law in his homeland of South Sudan – have always worked hard to support the family and he and his six siblings “really want to make our parents proud”.
“(My dream) is the Olympic gold medal, winning it for Australia and to be the first sprinter to ever medal, that’s what keeps me up at night,” Gout said.
He also told The Australian in December that a sub-10sec 100m “will definitely happen”.
If it did, he would be the second Australian to crack 10 seconds after Patrick Johnson, who ran 9.93sec in Japan in 2003.
Gout’s coach, Di Sheppard, who discovered him when he was in year 7 at Ipswich Grammar School where she is the athletics coach, was adamant it’s a matter of when the young runner breaks 10 seconds, notif.
“We talk about it because to us it’s a given,” she said. “But to us it’s over here, when it happens it happens, and if it happens early … because everything’s happening sooner than we expected.”
Gout, a born-and-raised Queenslander, will be 24 when the 2032 Brisbane Olympics roll around, and Sheppard was clear on their goals. “We’re aiming for double gold, that’s the plan in Brisbane,” she said.
In the media mayhem following his December runs, Gout was consistently compared to eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt, with the famed runner even dubbing him a mini-me of sorts.
“He looks like young me,” Bolt said on Instagram.
Despite the excitement at being compared with the great Jamaican, Gout said he took it “with a grain of salt”.
“I’m just trying to be Gout Gout; obviously I do run like him and I do sometimes look like him but obviously I’m making a name for myself,” he said.
“I think I’ve done that pretty well and I just want to continue doing that and … continue to be Gout Gout.”
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe was made aware of Gout in December 2024, calling him an “outstanding talent,” but emphasising the importance of careful coaching as he matured as an athlete.
“We have to be realistic about this … the vast majority of people who win world junior titles don’t go on to compete for their national team at senior level,” he said.
“This is a rare and precious talent that will need nurturing and protecting.”
To nominate the 2024 Australian of the Year, email aaoty@theaustralian.com.au. Please include your name and contact details (this information is collected solely for this award and will not be used for any other purpose). The winner will be announced on Saturday, January 25, 2025.
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