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Wafric News – June 25, 2025

Seventeen-year-old Australian-Sudanese sprint sensation Gout Gout has once again made headlines after breaking his own 200-metre national record at the prestigious Ostrava Golden Spike meet in the Czech Republic.

In his first-ever senior race outside Australia, the teenager clocked a blistering 20.02 seconds—shaving two hundredths of a second off his previous best—to dominate the field at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event.

The Queensland-based high schooler finished well ahead of Cuba’s Reynier Mena, who came in second at 20.19 seconds, and Britain’s Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, who took third with 20.60.

“I feel good—new personal best, new national record, and it’s my first European race,” Gout told reporters after his emphatic win.

The young star is already drawing comparisons to sprint legend Usain Bolt after beating the Jamaican’s time of 20.28 seconds at the same event back in 2006. Bolt would later go on to dominate global sprinting with three Olympic golds in the 200m and a world record of 19.19 seconds.

Gout Gout competes during the men’s 200-metre event at the 64th Golden Spike athletics meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic
But Gout is unfazed by the growing spotlight.

“I don’t feel any pressure,” he said. “When I’m on the track, it’s just me and what I love doing—running. I just go out there and nothing stops me. Once I get more races under my belt, I know that 20-second barrier will drop.”

Born in Ipswich, Queensland, to South Sudanese parents who migrated to Australia in 2005, Gout’s rise has been meteoric. He first stunned the athletics world in December 2024 when he broke Peter Norman’s 56-year-old national record by clocking 20.04 seconds.

In April this year, he ran wind-assisted times of 19.84 in the 200m and 9.99 in the 100m at the Australian national championships—both disqualified due to a strong tailwind, but nonetheless powerful indicators of his potential.

Gout Gout poses next to a scoreboard as he celebrates winning the men’s 200m by setting a new area record
Even without those wind-assisted times, Gout ranks among the top seven fastest Under-20 athletes in history—a list that includes Bolt himself.

Now officially selected for Australia’s squad for the World Championships in Tokyo this September, Gout Gout’s journey from Ipswich to international stardom is just beginning.


By WafricNews Desk.

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