Gout's star continues to shine as the promising young sprint talent clocked the fastest 200m by an Australian since 1993 at the Queensland All Schools Track and Field Championships. The 16-year-old's time of 20.29s in a heat at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre propelled him to fourth place in Australia's all-time 200m rankings and made him the fourth fastest under-18 athlete globally over the distance. Gout, who won't turn 17 until December, has already drawn comparisons to Usain Bolt, whose world record of 19.19s set in 2009 remains unbeaten. Bolt himself ran 20.13 at the same age as Gout. Australia's fastest 200m runner, Peter Norman, set a time of 20.06 at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
Despite not improving his time in the final in Brisbane, where he clocked 20.52s, Gout still secured the title and a championship record. This latest achievement is just one in a series of impressive performances by the young athlete, who earlier this year won a silver medal at the world athletics U20 championships with a time of 20.60s. Bolt's gold-medal time in the 200m final at the 2002 U20 championships, when he was just shy of his 16th birthday, was 20.61. Born in Brisbane to parents Monica and Bona, who migrated from South Sudan, Gout is one of seven children. His meteoric rise has been marked by viral social media clips of his blistering speed and distinctive stride at local meets.
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