Teenage sprinting sensation Gout Gout continued his record-breaking streak on Tuesday when he surpassed his own 200m Australian national mark.
The 17-year-old finished first with a time of 20.02 seconds – shaving two hundredths of a second off the previous record hebroke in December last year– at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Gout entered the straight slightly behind Cuba’s Reynier Mena but produced a remarkable burst as the pair approached the finish line to get himself ahead.
In what was Gout’s first senior race abroad, he finished 0.17 seconds ahead of Mena while Great Britain’s Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake (20.60) came in third.
“I feel good. New personal best, new national record in my first European race,” Gout told reporters afterwards, per Reuters.
“I don’t feel any pressure. Because as soon as I step out on that track, it’s just me by myself and what I’ve got to do, my favorite thing, and that’s to run.
“So, I just go out there and run and nothing stops me from doing that … Get some more races in me and (the 20-second barrier) will drop for sure.”
Gout has already broken the 200m 20-second barrier mark this year,winning the title at the Australian Athletics Championships in Perth in 19.84 seconds in April, only for the time to be revoked because of an illegal wind reading of 2.2m per second.
In breaking Australia’s 200m record last year, Gout smashed Pete Norman’s nearly six-decade-old mark which had been the country’s oldest remaining record.
He’s also shown his potential in the 100m too,breaking the 10-second barrier twice in one day in April, only for those times to also be etched out because of a tailwind.
Gout’s tall stature, languid running style and raw speed have drawn comparisons with legendary sprinter Usain Bolt and he is considered one of the fastest teenagers in the world.
His time of 20.02 seconds is the 11th fastest 200m time this season by any athlete.
Gout’s speed over the last 12 months has earned him a spot on Australia’s team for the World Championships in Tokyo in September.
It could set up a fascinating clash with reigning 200m world champion Noah Lyles and Botswana’s Olympic gold medalist Letsile Tebogo.