Teenage sprint phenomenon Gout Gout has smashed his own national 200m record and become the first Australian to break the 20-second barrier in legal conditions as he sprinted to victory in 19.67sec at the athletics championships in Sydney.
Aidan Murphy pushed the 18-year-old deep into the straight and finished with the second best 200m time by an Australian of 19.88sec, with a tailwind of +1.7m/s.
Gout previously held the national record of 20.02sec and ran a wind-assisted 19.84sec (+2.2m/s) at the Australian Athletics Championships last year, but blew away both times in the final on Sunday.
“I’ve been chasing it ever since I got that illegal sub-20 [seconds]. It’s been on my mind this whole year and this past couple of months, so, I’m glad I got it,” he said.
Gout bounded around in celebration after crossing the line, posing for the cameras and signing autographs.
“It’s absolutely insane,” he said. “You could say it’s a big weight off my shoulders knowing that I ran it legally and I have the speed in my body to run times like that.”
Gout has now moved into the top 20 fastest 200m runners of all-time, and Sunday’s run is now the under-20 200m record (Erriyon Knighton ran 19.49sec in 2022 but it was not ratified by World Athletics). His breathtaking performance on Sunday eclipsed even his own expectations.
“I wrote down 19.75 [seconds] and for the past week in my head I’ve been telling myself I’m running 19.75 and obviously – 19.67 – you’ve got to love it,” he said.
Gout started well and was in the lead into the straight, but was pushed all the way by Murphy, whose own remarkable run took him inside Peter Norman’s historic 1968 time, which was only beaten by Gout when he claimed the new Australian record in 2024.
Murphy’s presence clearly pushed Gout in the absence of 100m champion Lachie Kennedy.
Gout finished school at the end of last year, allowing him to focus full-time on training. “I definitely think the training’s been working, and the training’s been proving to me that I can run fast,” he said.
Gout’s performance more than made up for the absence of Kennedy, who pulled out of the 200m event on Sunday morning, hours before he was due to compete.
The move robbed fans at Sydney Olympic Park of a rematch between the Queenslander and Gout Gout, after Kennedy won their second duel at the Maurie Plant Meet last month.
Kennedy told journalists after winning the 100m on Saturday night that he was not sure whether he could back up for the 200m.
“Wait and see. See how that body pulls up. Listen to the experts, physios and all that, but yeah, we’ll see,” he said.
Australian Athletics confirmed Kennedy would not compete prior to competition starting on Sunday.
Kennedy’s management said his withdrawal was precautionary, given it’s only his third competition of the year, as he prepares for a long season that will include the World Relays Championship next month, the Diamond League season and the Commonwealth Games in July.
The rematch was set to be one of the highlights of these national championships. Kennedy, speaking on Saturday, acknowledged the fans’ expectation.
“I don’t want to promise anything and then not deliver, but I mean, we’ll see how it goes, just see how the body pulls up.
“Either way it’ll be good [competition] tomorrow whether I’m there or not.”
Kennedy backed up for the 200m at last year’s national titles, but was disqualified before the final in which Gout secured his first national title.
A stress fracture in his back forced Kennedy to miss last year’s World Championships, and he has been vocal this year about the need to give his body time to recover.
In the men’s 800m, Peter Bol held off the challenge of teenager Daniel Williams to take his fifth national title. Williams – Australia’s latest middle-distance prospect – pushed to the lead on the back straight, but Bol calmly chased down and passed him, crossing the line ahead of Luke Boyes and Bob Abdelrahim with Williams fourth.
“I’m still surviving out here, it’s not getting any easier,” Bol said. “So much passion, so many young guys coming along and it’s good that they’re pushing hard, they also push me to be better.”
Abbey Caldwell upstaged Claudia Hollingsworth in the women’s 800m, overtaking the 1500m champion with 60m to go.
Jess Hull – who fell in the 1500m final and withdrew from the 800m – beat home Linden Hall in the 5000m.
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