Gout Gout lights up the track in Brisbane with world-leading 200m time | Athletics newsthirst.

Sprint sensation Gout Gout, Australia’s fastest man over 200m, has lit up the track with a world-leading run during the under-20 heats at the Queensland Athletics championships on Sunday.

Gout blitzed the field by more than two seconds to cross the line in 20.05s for the fastest all-age 200m recorded across the globe in 2025. The 17-year-old smashed the 20.13s clocked by Zimbabwe’s Makanakaishe Charamba in Texas last month.

The sprint prodigy demolished the U20 200m field with a legal wind of +1.2m/s at his back in Brisbane to finish just 0.01s short of the national record he set last December. While Gout was outside that personal best of 20.04s (+1.5m/s), he again beat the previous Australian record that Peter Norman held for 56 years after running a 20.06s at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968.

Gout will have another opportunity to break the 20-second barrier when he runs the U20 200m final at the state championships later on Sunday. The Queenslander is also moving to within touching distance of Usain Bolt’s fastest 200m time at the same age of 19.93s. Gout, who turned 17 in December, bettered the Jamaican’s personal best 16-year-old time of 20.13s last year.

The highly touted athlete has already clinched the U20 100m crown after running 10.38s in the final on Saturday. Gout had earlier eased to the line to finish his heat in 10.39s against a slight headwind.

Gout has revealed that he is now in the middle of a heavy training block while targeting the Maurie Plant meet on 29 March, as well as the national championships in Western Australia in April. He is among a group of promising sprinters – including Lachie Kennedy, Josh Azzopardi, Jacob Despard, Calab Law and Jack Hale – also eyeing off the $40,000 on offer in the 120m Stawell Gift on Easter Sunday.

More to follow …