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Australian 17-year-old Gout Gout continued to demonstrate why he is the most exciting talent in sprinting right now, running the fastest 200-meter time in the world this year on Sunday.
Competing in the heats of the Queensland State Championships, Gout ran a world-leading time of 20.05 seconds, just 0.01 outside his own Australian record.
In the final, he then followed it up by becoming the first-ever Australian to break the 20-second barrier with his victory in 19.98 seconds. However, the time won’t stand as an official record because of illegal wind conditions (+3.6m/s).
Remarkably, Gout finished more than two seconds ahead of the competition in the men’s under-20 200m final, streaking away from the field on the home straight.
“I felt literally free. I had 80 metres left to go and I thought, let’s send it, and only from then did I believe I had a chance of going sub 20,” he said after the race, per Australian Athletics.
“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.”
Gout broke Perter Norman’s Australian 200m record of 20.06 in December aged 16, a mark that had stood since 1968. The day before, he ran the fourth-fastest 100m time in history for an under-18-year-old, clocking a wind-assisted personal best of 10.04.
Though his time in Sunday’s final won’t count for the record books, Gout does become only the seventh athlete under the age of 20 to run a sub-20-second 200m time in all wind conditions.
It also provides further evidence that the Ipswich High School student could become one of track and field’s all-time greats. The legendary Usain Bolt ran comparable times to the Australian teen at the same age, and has previously said that Gout “looks like young me.”
“I’ve been at that stage before, watching Usain Bolt on the news and just getting goosebumps,” said Gout. “Myself giving people goosebumps definitely feels great.”
On Saturday, Gout won the under-20 100m title at the Queensland State Championships in 10.38, almost half a second faster than the rest of the field.
He is next scheduled to compete at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne on March 29. (CNN)
• PHOTO: Gout Gout competes in the men's under-20 200m heats at the Queensland State Championships in Brisbane. Patrick Hamilton/AFP/Getty Images
