Eighteen-year-old Australian sprinter Gout Gout delivered a sensational performance on Sunday, running the 200m faster than sprint legend Usain Bolt managed at the same age.
Competing at a national championship in Sydney, Gout clocked 19.67 seconds to win the title and set a new world under-20 record. The run also marked his first legal sub-20-second effort, improving on his previous wind-assisted 19.84 seconds, and currently stands as the fastest time recorded in the world this year.
Gout first rose to prominence in 2024 after running 20.06 seconds at just 16 years old, a national record and the fastest time ever recorded for his age.
His latest achievement is quicker than Bolt’s 19.93 seconds set in 2004, when the Jamaican sprint icon was 17 and held the world junior record before going on to dominate global sprinting.
While American sprinter Erriyon Knighton has recorded a faster under-20 time of 19.49 seconds (not officially ratified as a world U20 record), Gout’s 19.67 has now surpassed Knighton’s official 19.69 mark.
