Australian schoolboy Gout Gout clocks world leading 200m time

BRISBANE – Australian sprinting prodigy Gout Gout ran the fastest men’s 200m in the world in 2025 on March 16, with the 17-year-old saying that he felt “literally free”.

The youngster rose to prominence in December when he clocked the quickest time ever by a 16-year-old. That mark broke Usain Bolt’s personal best at the same age, with his 20.04sec also bettering Peter Norman’s Australian record of 20.06sec from the 1968 Olympics.

He turned heads again on this past weekend with a 20.05sec in the heats of the Queensland State Championships – the world-leading time this year.

Gout then smashed through the 20-second barrier in the final with a 19.98sec, but it was wind-assisted so deemed illegal.

“I felt literally free. I had 80 metres left to go, and I thought, let’s send it,” he said of the final.

“Only from then did I believe I had a chance of going sub (20).

“Seeing the clock, I was really happy and surprised in a way, but it just felt like a weight off my shoulders. Now that I’ve done it, I’ve just got to do that more consistently.”

The lanky Gout, who was born in Australia after his parents migrated from South Sudan, has drawn comparisons with eight-gold Olympic champion Bolt.

During a recent interview with reigning Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles and 110 meters hurdles Olympic gold medalist Grant Holloway, he insisted that he was just trying to be himself.

“I’m trying to be the next Gout Gout,” he said. “Obviously being compared to Usain Bolt, everyone wants to be the next star basically and Usain Bolt was the best sprinter, the best athlete.

“So being competitive, it’s obviously great but then I’m Gout Gout so I want to be able to make my name as big as his.”