Gout Gout, a 17-year-old runner draws comparison to Usain Bolt with record-breaking sprints

Gout Gout, a 17-year-old Australian sprinter, has taken the world by storm following his record-breaking races in the country’s school and national-level athletics championships.

Gout won the Australian 200-metre men’s title with a wind-assisted timing of 19.84 seconds at the Australian Athletics Championships in Perth on Sunday, 20 April 2025.

Over the past three years, he has dominated the 100m and 200m races in Australia’s age-group athletics championships, winning gold in both categories since the age of 15.

Gout clocked 20.04 seconds in the 200m race at the Australian All Schools Championships in December 2024, becoming the fastest U16 200m runner in history. This meant he surpassed Usain Bolt’s U16 time of 20.13.

The 1.83-metre-tall athlete of South Sudanese heritage has South Africa’s sprinting sensation Bayanda Walaza hot on his heels. Walaza has had a meteoric rise, setting a national Under-20 record and becoming the joint fifth fastest junior athlete ever in the world over 100-metres in March this year.

The Olympic 4x100m relay silver medallist also became the ninth South African to dip below 10 seconds, clocking 9.99 seconds to win the Gauteng North Provincial Championships.

In a previous interview with Dan Corder on CapeTalk's Afternoon Drive, Walaza shared his aspirations of becoming "the fastest man in the world". Between Gout and Walaza, it looks like the running world can look forward to more record-breaking.

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