Teenage phenom Gout Gout breaks 20-second barrier in 200m, wins Australian title

With every race, 17-year-old Australian sprinter Gout Gout seems to reach yet another milestone and further underscore his immense potential.

On Sunday, he won the men’s 200 meters title at the Australian Athletics Championships in Perth in 19.84 seconds, an extraordinary time that would have propelled him into the record books but for an illegal wind reading of 2.2m per second.

The wind-aided time was the second fastest 200m ever recorded by an under-20 sprinter in all conditions – faster than Olympic gold medalists Usain Bolt, Justin Gatlin and Leslie Tebogo clocked at the same age category.

It would have been a new championship record too, surpassing Gout’s own mark he set in the heats by 0.37 seconds, but for times to stand in the official history books they must have been recorded with less than a 2m/s tailwind.

His latest accolade came after he broke the 10-second barrier for the 100 meters twice in the same day on his way to winning the men’s under-20 100m title at the national championships on Thursday, albeit also assisted by illegally high tailwinds.

“Feels pretty good,” Gout said after winning the senior 200m title on Sunday, per Reuters. “That’s what I’ve been chasing, I’ve been chasing getting that sub-10, focusing on my first hundred and that’s exactly what I did.

“I got out, I sent it. Top speed is my gift. I used it, took off and I got sub 20 so I couldn’t be happier.

“I think (I’m) maybe one of the youngest to ever win a men’s national title, so it definitely feels great. Couldn’t be happier for sure.”

At times, it seemed as if Gout’s springy, languid strides were twice as long as those of his rivals as he powered away from the rest of the field around the bend and crossed the line meters ahead of anyone else. His archrival Lachlan Kennedy, who had looked best placed to challenge him, was disqualified for a false start.

SOURCE: CNN