Gout Gout aims to break his own Australian 200m record at World Athletics Championships 2025
17-year-old faces world champion Noah Lyles in World Championships 2025
Australian spriner faces comparisons to Usain Bolt due to his sprinting style
Australian sprinter Gout Gout will aim to lower his national record again while competing in the 200 metres at the World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo's Olympic Stadium. The 17-year-old faces an encounter with world champion Noah Lyles and the inevitable comparisons to Usain Bolt, before returning to school in Australia.
The World Athletics Championships in Tokyo will provide a critical learning experience for the high school senior who has made a significant impact in Australian athletics.
Record-Setting Junior Sprinter
Gout Gout made headlines in December when he set a new Australian record, running 20.04 seconds. He shattered the national mark that had stood since 1968, becoming the fastest 16-year-old ever over the distance. He then lowered this to 20.02 seconds at the Ostrava Golden Spike meet in June. He enters the World Championships, which begin Saturday, ranked 16th internationally for the 200 metres – he did not enter the 100 metres or the 4x100 relay.
His ranking, however, masks his true promise. Gout is nearly four years younger than the next-youngest athlete among the World Athletics' top 16 runners. Born a decade after Noah Lyles, Gout faces a formidable opponent in Lyles, who has secured the 200-metre title at the last three World Championships and claimed Olympic gold in the 100 metres at Paris last year.
Comparisons To Usain Bolt
Veteran sports commentator Bruce McAvaney commented on Gout's potential in his preview for Australia's SBS TV. "He may be 17, but I think it’s possible for him to reach the 200-metre final in Tokyo, which would be an extraordinary achievement at his age – even Usain Bolt couldn’t do that," McAvaney said. "It's going to be fascinating to watch his journey."
Gout has certainly captured the attention of sports fans across Australia, where many are already tipping him for gold at the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane. Australian television audiences have seen plenty of footage of Gout running, and some have likened his upright technique, high knee lift, and dramatic acceleration to the style made famous by Usain Bolt, widely considered the greatest sprinter of all time.
Gout addressed these comparisons, stating on his Australian Athletics profile, "In the moment, it feels great because everyone wants to be compared to Usain, but at times it does get a bit overwhelming. Now that I’ve grown up and I’m a bit mature, my circle really helps me stay level, and I’m just basically trying to make a name for myself. Although I do run like Usain Bolt, I do maybe look like him in a couple of ways. I’m just trying to be myself."
Gout has also posted two wind-assisted times under 20 seconds, clocking 19.84 and 19.98 in April. However, authorities did not consider either time legal because the wind speed exceeded allowable thresholds. Even without those sub-20 times, he remains among the top seven all-time Under-20s in the half-lap sprint, a list that includes Bolt.
Gout explained his strategy: "My top-end speed is my secret, so I’ve just got to focus on the first 100, first 50, and once I get out of that bend, I know I can run people down." He advises, "So stay relaxed, stay focused, and just power through."
Early Career And Future Olympic Hopes
Born in December 2007 in Ipswich – a one-hour bus ride from Brisbane, host city of the 2032 Olympics – Gout Gout’s parents, Bona and Monica, relocated to Australia in 2006, having journeyed from South Sudan via Egypt. Coaches first noticed him at an Ipswich Grammar School athletics carnival in 2020.
Soon after, wearing his first pair of spikes, he competed at a prestigious meet primarily for private schools at the age of 12. The following year, he joined long-time coach Di Sheppard's training squad, and his career truly began to flourish. Gout reflected, "She basically told me I could be great, and that was the first time anyone ever told me something like that."
Sheppard has openly declared to Australian media that Gout can win a gold medal in 2032, and the young sprinter embraces that ambition. He won a silver medal at the 2024 World Junior Championships in Lima, Peru, and signed with Adidas last October. He resumed competing at high school meets in November and December, caught up with Lyles in the U.S., and then returned to Australia, where he drew large crowds for the open track season.
Gout Or Guot?
In a television interview last December, Gout’s father stated that the young athlete’s name had long been misspelt and should in fact be ‘Guot’ – pronounced ‘Guot,’ not like the painful inflammatory joint ailment. Yet,
James Templeton, Gout’s manager and agent, who has previously worked with athletes like David Rudisha and Bernard Lagat, later affirmed to Australian radio station SEN that for now, "Categorically, it’s Gout Gout… It’s how it’s going to be."
Templeton also revealed he has essentially issued a ‘blanket no’ to all media requests for Gout for 18 months, citing his young age. "It’s all going to be ahead of him," Templeton said. "We want his life to be as normal as possible for as long as possible."
(With AP Inputs)
